Category: Abuse

Cuties: Netflix’s controversial film and the child exploitation that we don’t discuss

admin
Cuties: Netflix’s controversial film and the child exploitation that we don’t discuss

By Khadija Khan   The Netflix film Cuties, directed by Franco-Senegalese Filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, has caused a lot of controversy. The coming-of-age movie shows very young girls in France dressed inappropriately for their age and performing highly sexualised dance routines. As a result, there have been calls for Netflix to ban the movie; Doucouré has also received death threats for having made such a film. In Cuties (‘Mignonnes’ in French), we see 11-year-old Amy, a lonely and alienated French girl of Senegalese origin, who is caught between her own immigrant…

Virginity: losing my most ‘valuable’ asset  

admin
Virginity: losing my most ‘valuable’ asset  

By Reema They say love is a beautiful thing. For many women in Saudi Arabia, that just isn’t the case. We were taught that love is only allowed after marriage. It is also expected that one’s marriage will be arranged by one’s family. That didn’t stop us, however, from searching for love. You just had to know how to keep it a secret. Like many girls, I had always dreamt of finding love. And I did find love—or so I thought. I had a secret boyfriend, as a lot of…

The case of Syrian refugee Jamal and bullying in British schools

admin
The case of Syrian refugee Jamal and bullying in British schools

By Khadija Khan A bitter reality: British children feel unsafe in their schools. They become targets of bullying in one way or another. The education system lacks the teeth to rescue these children from the suffering they face, despite knowing the negative and, often, lifelong impact on them. A recent incident that has caught everyone’s attention is one that took place in Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where a teenage boy’s despicable demonstration of power over a vulnerable, Syrian boy soon drew media attention and caused uproar amongst…

FGM in America: End cultural and religious based violence

admin
FGM in America: End cultural and religious based violence

By Shirin Taber and Rickie Farnes, Middle East Women’s Leadership Network, in partnership with America Matters   Religious freedom — the right to practice your religion freely — is one of the greatest merits of the American experience. However, systematic abuses in the name of religion, committed daily against women, cut away at our universal rights and cannot be tolerated. A growing number of Islamists and male-centric communities inside the U.S. treat women as commodities for control and reproduction. Girls are taught that female genital mutilation (FGM) is a right…

State of Neglect: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Abuse in Pakistan

admin
State of Neglect: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Abuse in Pakistan

By Ammara Mustafa  This is a cross-post from Daily Times   Why does the State not take it upon itself to pursue cases of sexual assault? Does the fault lie in the judicial system or is it a deeper malaise? A child is full of curiosity, wonder and excitement when he or she opens their eyes into this new and alien world. A child who learns to walk by holding their parents’ hands and then later takes their first steps towards formal learning in educational institutions is a vulnerable being…

Muslim Man’s Marriage Manual

admin
Muslim Man’s Marriage Manual

  By Jimmy Bangash   Crush her spirit Break her soul Teach this woman her new role   Curb her speech Teach her her worth Cooking cleaning birth and birth   Birth and birth and birth and birth Cooking cleaning birth and birth   Claim her children Quote 4:34 Keep her gaze upon the floor   Keep her fearing of Talaq This is how you make your mark   Keep her locked Within your home And all your antics are unknown   If she cries Call her a whore Sow…

Some of my best friends are Jewish, and other confessions of an ex-Muslim

admin
Some of my best friends are Jewish, and other confessions of an ex-Muslim

By Yasmine   One of my earliest memories is of being bound to my bed as the soles of my feet were whipped. At five or six years old, this was my punishment for not correctly memorising surahs, chapters, from the Quran, or for missing one of the daily prayers. Lying on my bed, in the room that I shared with my sister, I would feebly struggle to free my feet from the skipping rope that bound them. But it was pointless. My strength was no match for the man…

Female Genital Mutilation: Pakistan’s well-kept secret

admin
Female Genital Mutilation: Pakistan’s well-kept secret

By Saima Baig   (This is a cross-post from The Nation)   On May 5, Nigeria took the historical step of outlawing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and its outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan, signed the ban as one of his last acts before leaving office. According to the UN, one quarter of Nigerian women and girls have been subjected to FGM, a vile and misogynistic practice that creates many health issues for women. Globally more than 125 million girls and women are affected by this practice, which was banned by the…