When are we going to get over the notion that all culture, i.e. cultural practice, is good, simply because people practise 'it' ? Surely cultural practices reflect power structures in social groups ? And power in social groups is usually in the hands of men rather than women, and of conservatives rather than progressives ? Yes ? No ?

The upshot of that is that many cultural practices are abhorrent, designed (and cloaked in all manner of 'cultural' obfuscations and justifications) to keep those NOT in power in their place. The conservatives in a social group might try to justify a particularly abhorrent practice in terms of ideology, religion or the sanctity of time, but any practices which penalise women or other subordinate groups in a society are surely to be opposed and extirpated in the modern world ?

One suspects that there is more behind this story, to do with straight-out racism, the stigmatising of the disabled and most certainly the right, in a modern society, to make choices.

I wish Mariam and her husband and children the very best, in such a vile 'cultural' environment.

Joe

The most damming thing about this article is the way its author goes out of his way to avoid naming and shaming ISLAM.

Standard etiquette now-a-days among “commentators” seem to be that one dares not criticise Islam unless one does so as part of a broader critique of all religions.

So whilst it is okay to single out Catholicism or Protestantism or the Americans It is just not the done thing to single out Islam for the same.

Lest we forget:
-"A suspected French jihadist who spent time in Syria has been arrested over the shooting deaths of three people at a Belgian Jewish museum...
-The attack and the arrest revived memories of Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman who trained with extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then attacked a Jewish school and French paratroopers in southern France in 2012".
http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/2886164-suspect-jewish-museum-killings-went-to-syria.html#.1272-stage-hero1-2

damming s/r damning

Time for "decent" world leaders to unite and slam the glove into the ground, and tell these tinpot potentates, thus far and no further!
Perhaps a few cruise missiles coming in the front door, would emphasize that salutatory message!
We Christians have turned the cheek too many times!
It's time to tell these stone age advocates, that conversion by the sword or its' modern equivalent is over!
I mean, just what sort of primitive primate, would lock up an entirely innocent women, and then force her to give birth in a flea laden germ riddled prison!
Send the Leader of this primitive stone age nation, a personal just for him; and or, a few cronies in the so called legal system, a few cruise missiles, with a personal message written on the sides; "may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits"!
Just in case these missiles miss their initial targets, and other signs are needed!?
Rhrosty.

SPQR,

Combine this shocking story with the ghastly tragedy of that poor women beaten to death with bricks by her own family members (and where are the feminists these days ? You've got what you want, sister, now pull up the ladder, is that it ?) - culture overlaid with a religion which is so backward and in accord with those barbarous practices that it can be used to sanction such brutality ?

Could a Christian trawl through the Bible and find justification for such horrific acts ? They would probably have to go back to the Old T4stament - the basis for so much of the Koran, or at least from its most reactionary bits.

So where do we place the responsibility in these cases, on culture or religion - or both ?

On culture ? Then we can include them alongside the rape and hanging of two little girls in Uttar Pradesh for their sheer barbarity. And the rape every 20 minutes across India, 90 % unpunished.

On religion ? Then we can include them alongside the slashing of students' throats and kidnapping of hundreds of girls by Boko Haram, and the blowing up of market places by Boko Haram, terrorists in Urumchi, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Syria. Is it a coincidence that all of the perpetrators of these atrocities call themselves Muslim ? Is terror part of Islam ?

Joe

...Never mind Mal; this story is probably one of the better ones to come out of the Sudan. Sudan is the "wild West" of Africa, where currently four million Sudanese face starvation right now in the South. Their death will be slower than an execution! Small mercies!