Selling Afghan Women Out

Hamid Karzai, America's favorite candidate in the recent Afghan presidential election, issued a law (not through Parliament) which has restored Taliban like restrictions on women. These new/old regulations apply only to Shi'ite women, but who can say they will not become more widespread? The law permits child marriage, allows a husband to withdraw all support for his wife if she does give sex on demand and permits a woman to leave her home only for "legal reasons" in "accordance with local customs." So, if local customs do not allow women to go to school or work outside the home, what then? No doubt, Karzai issued this law to win the votes for the hard-line members of the Shi'ite minority. But, how can we continue to support him?

Can we continue to support the Karzai government? Is this why we are fighting in Afghanistan - to see women oppressed? Doesn't there come some point when we have to do what is right and not what is politically expedient?

The Zimbabwean Dollar Is Dead

I'm a little late with this. The Zimbabwean government stopped printing the Zimbabwean dollar on April 12. So, it is officially dead. The government replaced it with the U.S. dollar and the South African rand. Where does this leave the Zimbabweans who have only Zimdollars, as they are called? A bus ride in Harare costs 50 U.S. cents or 3 trillion Zimdollars. People without relatives outside the country to send them hard currency are using Zimdollars as IOUs or have returned to a barter system. One woman paid a bus driver with a live chicken! President Mugabe is demanding a return to the Zimdollar even though it was his policy of just printing up money which caused the hyperinflation crisis. However, the finance minister is a member of the opposition party who joined the government as part of the power sharing agreement between Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change. He refuses to return to the valueless local currency. Oh, by the way, there is one place where Zimdollars are doing well. The trillion Zimdollar notes are a favorite with collectors and are selling well on eBay.

What do you think? Can a country heal its financial problems by getting rid of its own currency? What can the average Zimbabwean do? Any thoughts?

Help for Women

This Sunday's New York Times magazine is devoted to women's issues around the world. Be sure to pick up a copy of it if you can. Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote the cover story.

Their main thesis is that just as slavery was the most important moral issue the world faced in the 19th century and totalitarian governments of both the left and right were the the major moral challenge of the 20th century, in the 21st century "it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape."

Do you agree? In the 21st century, in many places of the world, half the population is still being kept powerless through lack of education and oppressed by some horrific practices which sound as though they come from the Dark Ages. Half the population!
Can we in the developed world do anything about this? Should we? Ideas, anyone?

If you can't get a copy of the newspaper, the cover story is at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?_r=1&hp

Nick in O Magazine!

Is there no end to the number of people who are getting to know "our" Nick? His wife and he are in O magazine about their new book, "Half the Sky." Check it out. Can you think of ways we can make a difference? Do you agree that women are the key to progress in underdeveloped countries?

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200909-omag-power-kristof

Nick's new book

Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn have a new book coming out in September. It is why he was on sabbatical for the first half of Conflicts 267. It's called "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide."

"“We wrote a book devoted to women in the developing world because if you want to fight poverty and extremism, you need to educate and empower women and bring them into the economy. A country can’t grow and be stable if half the population is marginalized. Mercy Corps is helping spread this message through their One Table campaign. And you can help advance the cause by registering your book club on this site. You'll receive a moderator's kit to help guide the discussion and guidelines on how to host a fundraising event to support Mercy Corps' work with women and families. Please join the conversation, because we all have a role to play.

“Thank you.”

—Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

They are speaking at the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia in October. But, check out what Mercy Corps is doing to spread the word. The site is:

http://onetable.mercycorps.org/halfthesky

Christina, in a round about way, this discusses your comment about people feeling helpless to change things in the world. Does anyone have any ideas about how we could form a book club and do this?

Update on Mukhtar Mai

Many of you are familiar with the case of Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman who was raped on the order of a local tribal court. Mukhtar's brother allegedly had done something to dishonor a higher clan, and the local leaders decreed that this clan could regain their honor by having Mukhtar raped in front of her father and uncle by four men of the court's choosing. In cases like this, which are more common than would ever be expected in the 21st century, it is generally assumed that the woman will go home and quietly commit suicide or at least disappear. Instead Mukhtar went to her local Muslim cleric. This Imam encouraged her to report this crime and accompanied her to the police to have the men charged with rape. Her case became an international cause. Support and money poured in from around the world. This shy, illiterate woman used her new fame and money to open schools for girls, start a women's shelter and establish an organization to work for women's rights. She has made many enemies in traditional, rural society in Pakistan and her life has often been in danger. And now she faces a new threat.

The family of Mukhtar's best friend and chief of staff has been caught up in a violent dispute which could effect all Mukhtar has worked for. A female cousin of Mukhtar's friend married a man from another clan for love infuriating the men of her own clan. In July, the two clans engaged in a gunfight and both the young husband and wife were killed. It appears that the wife was killed by her own family in a kind of honor killing. The husband's family is outraged and seem to want to punish the entire family including Mukhtar's chief of staff and her husband. The traditional leaders who have always resented Mukhtar are using this incident to attack her work. There have been demonstrations against her and the police have raided her home. The fear is that tribal authorities will use this as an excuse to attack her school, shelter and compound and destroy all the work she has done. Since she works in a remote part of Pakistan where tribal law rules, there does not seem to be much the federal government can do to help her. After all she has endured and all she has accomplished against incredible obstacles, it would be a tragedy if her work is undone.

I am left to wonder how the western world can ever understand this type of tribal society which the U.S. is facing in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Can we find common ground between our world and the world of Mukhtar Mai? Is it even possible?

Rape in Africa : Who Cares?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the midst of an historic seven nation tour of Africa. So far, her trip has been overshadowed by her husband’s trip to North Korea to bring home the two captured American journalists and by the health care debate in this country. The media seems to be interested only in her looking a bit silly while trying to dance with some Africans who greeted her and by her annoyance at being asked a question about her husband's opinion on an issue. Her trip deserves more attention, and the issues she is investigating deserve more respect than they are receiving. Remarkably, Mrs. Clinton went to Eastern Congo, site of the worst conflict since World War II. Five million people have been killed in this conflict since 1998. And, one of the worst weapons of this conflict has been the use of rape. This is not rape as collateral damage. This is rape as a tactic and strategy of the war itself. Clinton visited a refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma which is ground zero in this conflict. There she met with some rape survivors including a woman who had been gang raped when she was eight months pregnant. Her baby died, and villagers saved her life by stuffing her womb with grass to keep her from bleeding to death since there was no hospital nearby. Mrs. Clinton pledged $17 million dollars to help combat sexual violence in this ongoing East Congo conflict. Hopefully, more important than the money will be Mrs. Clinton’s presence in East Congo. Perhaps this will call the world’s attention to an area which the UN has already labeled “the rape capital of the world”. As I was reading the story of her visit in The New York Times, I turned on ABC’s Nightline. Their story of controversy for the night? Child beauty pageants. What is wrong with this picture?

Is it just that the world does not care what is happening in Africa?

Or is it that the world does recognize that rape can be a weapon just as surely an IED?

Or is it that, like Mrs. Clinton who was described as “emotionally drained” by her visit to the refugee camp, we are too emotionally drained by issues as horrific as this and would rather think about the problems with child beauty pageants?