Posted on 03/01/2009 5:40:42 PM PST by forkinsocket
Fears are growing for the fate of thousands of young girls in rural Mauritania, where campaigners say the cruel practice of force-feeding young girls for marriage is making a significant comeback since a military junta took over the West African country.
Aminetou Mint Ely, a women's rights campaigner, said girls as young as five were still being subjected to the tradition of leblouh every year. The practice sees them tortured into swallowing gargantuan amounts of food and liquid - and consuming their vomit if they reject it.
"In Mauritania, a woman's size indicates the amount of space she occupies in her husband's heart," said Mint Ely, head of the Association of Women Heads of Households. ''We have gone backwards. We had a Ministry of Women's Affairs. We had achieved a parliamentary quota of 20% of seats. We had female diplomats and governors. The military have set us back by decades, sending us back to our traditional roles. We no longer even have a ministry to talk to." Mauritania has suffered a series of coups since independence from France in 1960. The latest, in August last year, saw General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz seize power after the elected president tried to sack him.
A children's rights lawyer, Fatimata M'baye, echoed Ely's pessimism. "I have never managed to bring a case in defence of a force-fed child. The politicians are scared of questioning their own traditions. Rural marriages usually take place under customary law or are overseen by a marabou (a Muslim preacher). No state official gets involved, so there is no arbiter to check on the age of the bride." Yet, she said, Mauritania had signed both international and African treaties protecting the rights of the child.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Waitng for NOW to notice.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Still waiting.
Sigh..... Muslim men must, by and large, be terrified of their women.
WELL! We must NOT impose our western morals on these people. We MUST respect thier culture! How dare we even discuss this topic.
Seriously. How very sad the state of man is without the light of Christ. How sad that the athiests only see the real or supposed wrong in the life of Christians.
They’re busy celebrating diversity.
these Africans really have some screwed up traditions....from female circumsission to something like this...
Meanwhile, NOW whines about glass ceilings even as women are taking the places of all levels of govt and business.
What a joke of an organization.
TARP. It's not just for insolvent banks.
Hey, phat is where it’s at. ;)
Not Guilty!!!
I’d Hit it!!!
Yeah, Baby!!!!
This message has been brought to you by the National Organization of Women and Richard Simmons.
It’s a problem of understanding. The more one understands of other cultures, the more one dislikes them.
Ophra read this and ordered her minions to fuel up her personal Airbus A380 and dig out the aircharts for Mauritania - they're heading for Fat Body Heaven!
.
Meanwhile, we in the U.S. get criticized for everything we do, and even things we don’t do. I’m tired of the nattering liberal BS.
“Sigh..... Muslim men must, by and large, be terrified of their women.”
Geez.........who isn’t?
Wasn’t it Mohammed who said “the bigger the cushion, the better the pushin’”?
“Mmmmm...African food.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.