Global Rape

DemocracyNow! reported a painful-to-read story about a Pakistani women and her legally sanctioned rape. While it is always difficult to have conversations trans-nationally when conditions and circumstances differ, there is no justification for this atrocity. However, I wish people would be able to not read a disturbing story like this and distance it as a "Pakistan thing." While there are certainly differences, the fact of the matter is, like the 11-year-old girl raped in Texas, rape is used as a weapon against women globally. This needs to stop in our own backyard and in Pakistan's:

  "In Pakistan, there has been a major development in the case of Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani woman who spoke out publicly nine years ago after she was gang-raped. The rape had been ordered by a tribal council as punishment for a crime allegedly committed by her 12-year-old brother. At the time, Mai accused 14 men of being involved. In 2002, a court sentenced six of the men to death, while acquitting the others citing a lack of evidence. But on Thursday, the Pakistani Supreme Court overturned five of the six convictions. The death penalty for the sixth man was commuted to life in prison. On Thursday, Mukhtaran Mai said she fears her life is now in danger."