If the trading and maltreatment of women is “appallingly un-Islamic , where did the idea come from? We are told that all manner of things are ‘against Islam’, but people still perform disgusting acts in the name of Allah.

If vani is against the law in Pakistan, what else is to blame but Islam?

What tosh Leigh. Appalling treatment of women is a global thing, not an 'Islamic' or 'Pakistani' thing. Look at the women being sold as brides/sex slaves in China. Not an Islamic country. Look at the child brides in Indigenous Australian culture. Not Islamic. The rape of children in Sub-Saharan Africa to supposedly rid men of AIDS. Not Islamic. Sexist and out-dated notions of 'owning' women exist in far too many cultures, and we should be concerned about all of them, not just those who may be trying to justify their behaviour though religion.

A really great article to celebrate this important day and those who are standing up to medieval practices that hurt women and their families (which include men). I can only imagine what this family are going through. Thankyou Waleed for drawing our attention to this hero and his daughters from Pakistan.

Laurie,

Sure, abuse of women is global. And, I did not say in was particularly Islamic. Waleed Aly made the statement that it is un-Islamic. Islam is clearly a religion which has been traditionally male-dominated, treating women as chattels. People other than me believe this. I am giving Waleed Aly the chance to prove me wrong.

Can you comment on this matter, please? If you can’t, I must take your post for what it seems to be: mere disagreement with my opinion and, perhaps, showing a lack of understanding of what I wrote. If I have been too arcane in this instance, I’ll try to make it simpler for you in the future.

Leigh, you asked "where did the idea come from?" as though it could ONLY have come from Islam. While I certainly accept that there are many Quranic scriptures which do denigrate women, I was pointing out to you that your inference that it could only be Islam to blame was incorrect, that the maltreatment of women has been a global phenomenon. Many disgusting acts have been in the name of all gods at different times, in the name of kings, and of countries.

Further, you asked "If vani is against the law in Pakistan, what else is to blame but Islam?"- gee, I don't know? Maybe historical patriarchal structures which regard women as mere chattels? While religion certainly plays into these structures, I was using examples from across the globe to demonstrate that it is hardly a situation limited to one country or one belief system.

Gotta love how these women as perpetual victim articles constantly fly behind a thinly veiled message of 'man bad.'

Interestingly, literally 100s of surveys and research findings out of western first world nations clearly demonstrate that domestic violence is fairly evenly matched between men and women. l am keenly aware that this factual statement flies in the face of the propgan... er l mean received conventional wisdom. lf you dont believe it do a google search, the truth is out there. In fact now, under the much expanded defionition of domestic violence/abuse, emotional and psychological abuse constitutes violence. That alone brings a sizeable portion of women into the net of being labelled as domestically violent.

l know this could be construed as a 'personal issue' ... whatever. l seriously doubt any real inroads will ever be made into this stuff until the whole gender war angle is removed from the way this stuff is projected into public consciousness.

Interesting, that in the face of western realities, the ideological pundits turn to the rest of the world to keep their perpetual campaigns of discontent going. There is too much rubbish in our own backyard to cast aspersions on our neighbours. This article is thoroughly disengenuous and has little real interest in solving a problem.

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