verte76
Blue Crack Addict
I posted a note about reading Jean Sasson's "Princess Trilogy" in LS. Although I was aware that in some countries women are treated like second-class citizens, the only really graphic information I'd read on the subject was the treatment of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban. The "Princess Trilogy" is the true story of a princess of Saudi Arabia. She is called "Sultana" in the book to protect her identity. She risked her life to have Jean Sasson write this book, because it's all about the shocking things that happen to women in that country. Women are routinely raped, beaten, and even killed every day, and it's perfectly legal. Men have absolute power over women. This can happen to royal women, middle class women, and servants. Many women servants are just sex slaves. This woman is trying to do something about it, but it's incredibly difficult. They practice a very strict, conservative brand of Islam in Saudi Arabia called Wahhabism. We recently had a thread on FYM about this school of Islam. It's a problem. This is not to demean the Islamic religion; many Moslems believe in equal rights for women. Sultana herself is a devout Moslem. But she's up against the religious establishment of Saudi Arabia. I don't know how much we can do about this, realistically, but I want to do something. This is too horrific to do nothing. Amnesty International, HumanRightsWatch, and feminist organizations all over are active in fighting this evil. I'm going to get involved.