It came to my attention in the last couple of days about a young girl who committed suicide in Morocco. She was raped by a man whom her family forced to marry to keep them from being talked about and save him from going to prison. He deserved to go to jail. He committed a crime. Under Moroccan law, rape is punishable by 5-10 years in prison or between 10-20 years if the victim is a minor. The judge recommended that the rapist marry the girl to restore her honor. Honor? Really?! My heart went out to Amina Filali . Rape is very traumatizing for a woman and to have to marry the person who violated you is hard to imagine. What was her family thinking? Morocco may seem to be the most lenient Muslim country in the East regarding women but still have a long way to go regarding the treatment of their women. Why don't people question their own culture and beliefs? Why is Morocco such a "shame" based society? I read several articles about Amina Filali and it was said that rape is not common in this country. I really don't believe it. My ex-husband told me about another girl who hung herself in the city where he used to live because she, too, had a sexual encounter and felt that death was her only option. Shame on Amina's mother for forcing her into this kind of situation. More importantly shame on her father for not being a man and standing up for his daughter. Was their good name more important than her life? I guess so. The law protects public morality but not the individual.
She, too, was here. Amina's life had value, but her family was afraid to stand up for her. Shurma!
This is purely the culture of these people and not the religion of Islam. According to Sharia law there is no punishment for a rape victim. I am glad I found Islam before I met too many muslims.
ReplyDeleteI saw this kind of thing in a movie from Turkey too. A girl was raped and her stepmother provided a rope for the girl to hang herself.
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