Women: From Bad to Better . . .

From Cruelty beyond the call of duty: How must it feel to have lost access to someone you care about? To worry, knowing they are in the hands of vindictive, vicious, unaccountable policemen and women who are hell bent on making sure you can’t find them.

How must you feel when reports finally start to reach you that they are badly injured - bearing injuries they didn’t have before they entered the walls of one of the many police stations dotted around the city - and they are being prevented from receiving medical treatment and legal assistance?

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From Iraqi Women - four years later:
Every-day survival is a priority in a context where lack of security goes side by side with incredibly difficult living conditions. The Iraqi infrastructure which was already severely debilitated as a result of economic sanctions and a series of wars has deteriorated even further since 2003. Electricity shortages, lack of access to potable water, malfunctioning sanitation systems and a deteriorating health system are part of every-day lives in post-2003 Iraq. Intisar K., who works as a doctor in a teaching hospital in Baghdad, summed up what has also been documented in several UN-related documents: “We only have electricity for three to a maximum of five hours a day. There is not enough clean drinking water. Lack of sanitation is a big problem and continues to be one of the main causes of malnutrition, dysentery and death amongst young children.”



From the Bahá'í International Community:

UNITED NATIONS, 18 March 2007 (BWNS) -- Last autumn, Anisa Fadaei started a discussion group on women's issues at her high school. Meeting every two weeks at lunch, about a dozen girls discuss issues like domestic violence, unequal pay rates, and trafficking in girls.

The topics were unfamiliar to most of the participants, which is the point.

"Before we started, most of the others didn't have a clue about gender equality issues or violence against women," said Anisa, who is 17 and lives in the town of Stroud, in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. "We live in quite a nice area and so most of my friends didn't realize that such problems with inequality were going on around the world."

Though young, Anisa is committed to raising awareness about gender issues. She is involved in the youth caucus of the UK National Alliance of Women's Organizations, and she has been the featured speaker at several school-wide assemblies on women's topics. She was recently profiled in a UNICEF newsletter that focuses on how young people can get involved with global issues.

Mass Murder of Women

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I'm bringing a horrible story to this blog today...

A story about how "Every two to four years the world looks away from a victim count on the scale of Hitler's Holocaust."

A story I first saw in the excellent blog, Would Your Mother Be Ashamed?, then followed into The Christian Science Monitor.

Here are some of the facts:

• "In countries where the birth of a boy is preferred, selective abortion and infanticide eliminate female babies.

• "Young girls die disproportionately from neglect because food and medical attention is given first to males.

• "In countries where women are considered the property of men, their fathers and brothers can murder them for choosing their own sexual partners.

• "The brutal international sex trade kills uncounted numbers of girls.

• "Domestic violence is a major reason for the deaths of women in every country.

• "Six thousand girls undergo genital mutilation every day, according to the World Health Organization. Many die, and others live the rest of their lives in crippling pain."

This sickens me. It's been going on for millennia and it's intolerable!

There have been many efforts to get at the roots of the problem and explore methods to eliminate this pernicious "gendercide". One of the best I've found was: A summary report of a Symposium on Strategies for Creating Violence-Free Families, initiated by the Bahá'í International Community and co-sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

In that document, it's said:

"The links between violence in the family and social, structural and political violence are inescapable."

Feeling helpless about social injustice brings me to my best human refuge and first means of defense against hopelessness--Prayer...

How Dare You Show This Picture !

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I debated putting this picture here but things are getting to me. . .

How dare anyone do that to children !

How dare we not do more to put an end to it !

For those just tuning in to this blog, the post, The Death of Violence !, has 64 simple yet powerfully effective things most anyone can do to add to the momentum of peace in our world.

Some may say there will never be an end to violence since humans are just wired that way. For anyone inclined to say that (or even harbor it in the dark recesses of their minds), I'll offer A Force More Powerful. It's a WebSite, a book, a TV documentary, and much more. Their effort chronicles 100 years of non-violent response to violent circumstances--responses which
Worked !!!

Tags: dead+babies, dead+children, death, children, youth, child, global+warming, violence, non-violence, Season+for+Non-Violence

Losing Our Future . . .

This image is from the Guardian Unlimited and carries this caption: Iraqi boys in a refugee camp in Baghdad play with toy guns.

Since this is still a Season for Non-Violence and since children Are our Future, I want to make a Major Comment. If you're in your teens or twenties, you may not even be aware if it; if you're in your thirties or forties, you may be tuning in to it; if you're in your fifties or sixties, you're probably dealing with it big-time; and, if you're in your seventies or more, I hope you're over the hump and can relax...

Major Comment: The teachings from our parents and the signals from our environment are so powerful an influence in our childhood that most people have never gotten beyond them to discover their True Selves.

Just because most haven't doesn't mean you can't; but, the only sure way to break the bonds of unsuitable upbringing is the Spiritual Path. (Naturally, we can praise God for all the good influences...)

Here are some links for further exploration:
From Case Western Reserve University, an article on a new study, Kids Who Threaten Are Likely to be Violent.

From the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the article, Children and TV Violence, which has further links for exploration.

And, from the National Institute of Mental Health, a page full of valuable links for further study.
Here's a quote from that site:

"Not all children enjoy the "carefree" days of childhood. Unfortunately, when things start to go wrong, people often despair of being able to repair the damage.

"This is a time of high concern about violent behavior by young people. As a nation, we are in a period of reflection as to what can be done to stem this tide. Helping young people avoid or overcome emotional problems in the wake of violence or disaster is one of the most important challenges a parent, teacher, or mental health professional can face. Moreover, children often face violence in their own homes..."

N.B.: This is still a Season for Non-Violence.

Tags: non-violence, war, child, children, play, toys, childhood+development, parental+influence, youth