Take off her niqab.
Niqab?
Order to take off niqab pits law against religion
Woman to appeal ruling forcing her to unveil face in sexual assault trial
A judge has ordered a Toronto woman to testify without her niqab at a sexual assault trial – raising the thorny issue of whether Muslim women should be allowed to appear as witnesses wearing a veil that covers everything but the eyes.
The issue is a collision of two rights, pitting religious freedom against the right of a defendant to face an accuser in open court.
The case could be precedent setting because it doesn't appear there is any Canadian case law addressing the question of Muslim women in the courtroom. In Canada, home to about 580,000 Muslims, the case will be closely watched, amid fears about Muslim women coming forward in criminal cases.
...When the complainant indicated last fall she wanted to wear her veil while testifying at the preliminary hearing, defence counsel told the judge that assessing her demeanour was of "critical importance" when tailoring questioning.
Weisman asked the woman to explain her objections.
"It's a respect issue, one of modesty and one of ... in Islam, we call honour," she replied. "It's also about the religious reason is to not show your face to men that you are able to marry. ... I would feel a lot more comfortable if I didn't have to, you know, reveal my face."
...In his judgment, Weisman wrote "at the 11th hour we learned ... she has a driver's licence with her unveiled facial impression upon it." She told court she took comfort the picture was taken by a female and there was a screen between her and potential male onlookers.
But Weisman wrote the "driver's licence can be required to be produced by all sorts of males," such as police officers and border guards.
"In investigating just how important a belief this was, it came down to her candid admissions that it was a matter of her being `more comfortable'
and wait, there's the hijab, and the bit about voting is something we have in Israel:
Debate about Muslim women and head coverings has surfaced in recent years over girls wearing the hijab to play sports and whether voters must show their faces...
...In the United Kingdom, a panel of judges drafted guidelines in 2007 that said Muslim women should be permitted to wear the niqab, as long as it does not interfere with the administration of justice, according to the Equal Treatment Advisory Committee of Britain's Judicial Studies Board. "Such decisions, however, should be made on a case-by-case basis," the committee said.
Forcing a woman to choose between taking part in a court case or removing her veil could affect her sense of dignity, exclude and marginalize her, the guidelines said.
Posts
15 comments:
I don't see why would hijab bothers anyone. Oh yeah, ignorant racist who need an excuse to pick on people.
It doesn't bother me. What I do find strange is the refusal to remove it for a minute to permit a valid legal procedure in court.
where's yours, btw?
I am a Christian and not required to cover my hair, only in church.
then for sure you wouldn't like Hamas. They've recently instituted crucifiction.
here
2003 - http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31285
2005 - http://www.jcpa.org/christian-persecution.htm
Christians are a minority in Palestine and it's not uncommon that discrimination exist against minorities. In Russia for instance where the Muslims are minority, the same terrible things have been done but against Muslims by Christians.
Hmmm, and since Muslims are less than 20% of pre-67 Israel, then...naw, we won't go there.
But why discrimination of Muslim against Muslim?
Like:
"
Man who stabbed sister gets 10 years
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
An Afghan refugee whose brother repeatedly stabbed her because he believed she was becoming too Americanized forgave him Friday and begged a judge for leniency.
Before Monroe County Court Judge John J. Connell imposed sentence on Waheed Allah Mohammad, his sister, Fauzia A. Mohammad, said her brother had been warped by his experiences in war-torn Afghanistan and snapped when she tried to break away from her family in Henrietta.
She asked for mercy for her brother, who pleaded guilty last month to attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault in exchange for a prison term of no more than 15 years.
"We're a country of immigrants and it's not always a melting pot," Connell said. "It's sometimes a stew, because we bring things that sometimes stay with us from our cultures. But certainly, Mr. Mohammad, that portion of your culture cannot be honored in this country."
Mohammad attacked his 19-year-old sister outside his family's apartment on May 8, 2008, when a female friend arrived to take her to New York City to start a new life. She was stabbed in the chest, arms and legs and nearly died from a wound close to her heart.
Mohammad told sheriff's investigators that his sister was a "bad Muslim girl" because she wore immodest clothes and went to clubs. He hinted that his family's honor was at stake.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090207/NEWS01/902070336
This are single episode of a conflict of values, more a domestic violence issue and not a massive discrimination example. Things like that happen within every community, i bet i can find something similar that happened with Jews, but it's really irrelevant.
But hey how about Andrea Yates here in US, who drawned her 5 kids because she thougth they are going to hell or some evangelical crapp like that.
Violence against women in Arab and Islamic countries
Journal Archives of Women's Mental Health
S. Douki1, F. Nacef1, A. Belhadj1, A. Bouasker1 and R. Ghachem1
(1) Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia, TN
Summary ¶In Arab and Islamic countries, domestic violence is not yet considered a major concern despite its increasing frequency and serious consequences. Surveys in Egypt, Palestine, Israel and Tunisia show that at least one out of three women is beaten by her husband. The indifference to this type of violence stems from attitudes that domestic violence is a private matter and, usually, a justifiable response to misbehaviour on the part of the wife. Selective excerpts from the Koran are used to prove that men who beat their wives are following Gods commandments. These religious justifications, plus the importance of preserving the honour of the family, lead abusers, victims, police and health care professionals to join in a conspiracy of silence rather than disclosing these offences. However, a fair reading of the Koran shows that wife abuse, like genital mutilation and honour killings are a result of culture rather than religion.
----------------------
THE PRACTICE OF HONOR CRIMES: A GLIMPSE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN THE ARAB WORLD
Author: Kulwicki A.D.1
Source: Issues in Mental Health Nursing, Volume 23, Number 1, 1 January 2002 , pp. 77-87
Abstract:
Domestic violence, especially violence against women, is a serious health problem in the United States and in many countries of the world. However, information on violence against women in the Arab culture is scarce. The purpose of this descriptive study is to investigate the incidence of violence against women in one Middle Eastern country. The focus of the research is to determine the cultural context in which violent crimes against women are committed and the social and legal implications of such crimes. The research method included: (1) a review of all court files of women murdered during 1995 in the country of Jordan and, (2) the social norms and sanctions against persons who commit crimes against women. Of 89 homicide cases reviewed, 38 involved female victims. Analysis of the court files of the 38 murdered women indicated that a male relative of the female victim, primarily the brother, committed the majority of the murders. The most common cause for the murders provided in the files was "honor crime." Honor crime was defined as crime committed against women by their male family members because the women had violated the honor of their family. Cultural norms and practices including the legal practices related to honor crimes support the practice of killing women for sexual misconduct and excuse perpetrators of the crimes from punishment.
---------------------
Commodifying Honor in Female Sexuality: Honor Killings in Palestine
Suzanne Ruggi
The family constitutes the fundamental building-block of Palestinian society. Family status is largely dependent upon its honor, much of which is determined by the respectability of its daughters, who can damage it irreparably by the perceived misuse of their sexuality
Every year, hundreds of women and girls are murdered in the Middle East by male family members. The honor killing-the execution of a female family member for perceived misuse of her sexuality-is a thorny social and political issue. Palestinian activists campaigning for equality find it difficult to stop the killings altogether. Legitimacy for such murders stems from a complex code of honor ingrained in the consciousness of some sectors of Palestinian society.
Given that honor killings often remain a private family affair, no official statistics are available on the practice or its frequency. According to a November 1997 report of the Woman's Empowerment Project published in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, there were 20 honor killings in Gaza and the West Bank in 1996. One representative of the group added, "We know there are more but no one publicizes it." Similarly, an unofficial report given to the Palestinian Women's Working Society stated that "recently" 40 women have been killed for honor in Gaza. The report defined neither the period in which these murders took place nor the exact circumstances. During the summer of 1997, Khaled Al-Qudra, then Attorney General in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), told Sout Al-Nissa' (Women's Voices), a supplement published by the Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), that he suspects that 70 percent of all murders in Gaza and the West Bank are honor killings.
http://www.merip.org/mer/mer206/ruggi.htm
-------------------
The politics of honor: patriarchy, the state and the murder of women in the name of family honor*
Author: Manar Hasan
Source: The Journal of Israeli History, Volume 21, Numbers 1-2, Numbers 1-2/March/October 2002 , pp. 1-37
---------------------------
This is certainly terrible. But there unfortunatelly is violence against women everywhere, for different reasons. You can't just single out Arabs.
How about the number of rapes commited all over the world, this have a devastating effect on a women's psyche as well. Especially if it's a girl who gets raped by her father. Have you seen "Volver". Until I saw that movie, i didn't imagine this was possible. Really really sad
Galia, you're waffling. There is a big difference between rape which, without getting into details, I don't know you that well to be too explicit, stems from a (sick) sexual urge but nevertheless on a physical act that in other circumstances, like marriage, is very acceptable as well as being a psychological need to dominate and the issue of honor killings in which all you do is assume your "honor", something very theoretical and unreal, has been damaged by a normal act - not adultery or being a prostitute - but simply dressing more modern, applying lipstick, going to school, etc. These actions don't deserve death, a death applied by a very close male relative and not a stranger.
So you think father raping his daughter for years isn't bad?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/773928.html
And it's more common thing then you think it is, i heard about cases like this here in US and lots in South America. I met a girl who was raped by her father (not a Muslim) systematically and her mother was involved. It's sickening.
I am not saying honor killing is right, i am only saying that honor killing is not the only horrible thing that happens in a family, how about parents who sell their children out of poverty?
Of course I think it's horrific but I must also be aware that there is a difference between physical harm & psychological harm and death
and talking about difference between physical and psychological harm, let's take Holocaust. The physical damage is done, four years of murders and horror! 60 years and three generations later, the psychological damage remains. I can sense that it hurts you 50 years later not less than 50 years ago. It holds you back and it is harming you probably more than you think.
Post a Comment