Rise In Acid Attacks On Men By Women In Pakistan

Not that this is to be condoned, but it seems it's payback time for men in Pakistan. Women, the usual victims of acid attacks (which is used as a form of punishment for anything from dishonoring their families and/or husbands to rejecting a marriage proposal o husbands sexual demands), are now turning the tables on the male population. Apparently, there has been a recent increase in acid attacks by women, and no-one over there seem to know why. 

But it's quite obvious they've learned through example.  There's a great monologue in Will Shakespeare's "Othello" where villain Iago's wife Emilia explains to Desdemona why women do the things they do.

But I do think it is their husbands' faults
If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties
And pour our treasures into foreign laps
Or else break out in peevish jealousies
Throwing restraint upon us. Or say they strike us
Or scant our former having in despite.
Why, we have galls, and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them. They see and smell
And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
As husbands have. What is it that they do
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is ’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
Then let them use us well, else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.

The last two lines sum it all up. Unfortunately, as the predominate targets of such horrendous acts of revenge, Pakistani women are learning that the best way to lash out is to use acid.

One male victim, 24-year-old Sheikh Mohammad Noman, had acid thrown on his face by his wife- she wanted a divorce so she could get back together with her ex-husband, and Noman refused since he still loved her. Although he was blinded and burned, his wounds don't seem as severe as so many photos I've seen of female victims, but he was blinded in one eye and will suffer pain for a long time. Noman's wife will be tried, but is currently out on bail.

According to a women's rights group The Aurat Foundation, the bulk of attacks are against women.

More than 8,500 acid attacks, forced marriages and other forms of violence against women were reported in Pakistan in 2011, according to The Aurat Foundation, a women's rights organization.

Up until recently, Pakistan has been very lax regarding honor crimes, and it wasn't until 2011 that they actually set up laws that criminalize acid attacks. Anyone convicted of an attack will be jailed for at least 14 years, which doesn't seem much for an act of violence that makes someone's life a living hell. And laws or not, will it make any difference? In a patriarchal/chauvinist society the men will more than likely still get off easy. Like Bilal Khar, the rich and powerful ex-husband of 33-year-old dancer/prostitute Fakhra Younus, who 12 years ago severely disfigured Younus with acid and still walks free today. Younus, in despair over Pakistan's lack of interest in such atrocities and the indifference and insensitivity of Pakistan's leaders,  recently took her own life by jumping out of a sixth floor building in Rome. Khar still denies he was the perpetrator, and says it was some other man with the same name.
According to this CNN interview regarding the rise in female generated acid attacks, there have been a whopping 3 attacks this year so far.

Shaima Alawadi- Hate Crime, Honor Killing Or Just Plain Murder?

Shaima Alawadi is the 32-year-old Iraqi immigrant mother of five who was found beaten to a pulp in her home in El Cajon, along with a note that said  ‘Go back to your country, you terrorist.’ She died a few days later, and most everyone immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a hate crime- that she was targeted because she was a hijab-wearing Muslim. Outraged people even created a Facebook page 'One Million Hijabs For Shaima Alawadi.

Well, it's now looking more like it was an honor killing or just plain murder, with several possible scenarios. Was it the 17-year-old daughter Fatima who was the one who found her bleeding, dying mother and called 911; the daughter who was caught 'possibly' having sex in a car with a 21-year-old male, and was very upset about a pending forced marriage to her cousin? Or was it Shaima's husband,  Kassim Alhimidi, who she was apparently planning to divorce and then getting the heck out of dodge by moving to Texas? 

Then there's the fact the note was a copy, not the original, and a witness who claims they saw

a skinny dark-skinned male running west from the area of Alawadi’s house. He was described as being in his late teens to early 20s, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 pounds, wearing a dark blue or black hooded sweatshirt and carrying a brown doughnut-shaped cardboard box.

And Fatima's story doesn't quite add up:

Fatima and her mother were the only ones at their El Cajon home on Skyview Street when the attack occurred about 11 a.m. on March 21.

Alawadi’s husband, Kassim Alhimidi, had reportedly left to take the couple’s other younger children to school, although police state in the March 27 affidavit that his whereabouts had not yet been confirmed.

Fatima told El Cajon police that she heard her mother squeal, and 10 seconds later heard the sound of glass breaking, the affidavit said. She told police she thought her mother had dropped a plate. Ten minutes later, the daughter discovered her mother lying unconscious on the ground, near a computer, and called 911.

She didn't hear her mother's screams? According to the autopsy, the attack was "extremely violent”. Alawadi had four fractures to the skull, and she was hit in the head at least six times.  If I had my head bashed in with a tire iron, or whatever weapon was used, they'd hear me down the street.

Then there's that odd text message:

A search of Fatima’s cellphone records shows that while she was being interviewed by investigators hours after the attack, While she was being interviewed by police hours after the attack, a text was sent on Fatima's cellphone, “The detective will find out tell them (can’t) talk,” the affidavit states.

If it was indeed an honor killing, planting that note was a clever way to hide the fact by diverting attention from honor to hate crime.

Too bad they don't create a Facebook page One Million Hijabs For Honor Killings.

Young Afghan Boy and Girl Killed After Acid Attack, No-One Claims Bodies

Here's another example of how religion and a twisted sense of honor is more important than the value of a life, or in this case, the lives of two young children. Dumped in the middle of nowhere, after being burned by acid, for unknown reasons.

Two children, unceremoniously dumped in the middle of nowhere.

GHAZNI: A 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy have been killed in an acid attack in Afghanistan, an official said on Saturday, with witnesses claiming it was because of their friendship in what is an ultra-conservative country.


The bodies were discovered on Friday in wasteland in the Esfandi area of Ghazni province in south central Afghanistan, provincial police chief Zorawar Zahid told AFP.


“Their bodies and faces were burnt by acid,” he said.


The police chief said officers were investigating the motive for the attack, but witnesses who found the bodies told AFP the two were probably killed because of their friendship.


No one has claimed the bodies, which are still in Ghazni hospital, police said.

What kind of parents would do this to their own children?

18% of Young Asian Brits Support 'Honor' Based Violence

A poll sponsored by the BBC found that of the 500 young Asian Brits surveyed, 18% (1 in 5) think it's okay to beat the heck out of women if they've 'dishonored' their families. Killing them, not so much. Only 3% justified 'honor killings' for either

disobeying a father, rejecting a prearranged marriage, or marrying someone unacceptable by the family.

Not surprisingly, 6 percent of those were men as opposed to 1 percent of women.

A great majority of the 16 to 34-year-olds polled believe that 'honor' (as if violence is honorable) is a very important element in family life.  75% of those were men versus 63% of women. 

Violence against women is a huge global problem, but in a culture that devalues women and places more importance on 'honor' it becomes monumental.  And although Muslims aren't the only ones who participate in 'honor killings' and violence against women, it doesn't help matters that the Quran actually promotes wife beating for disobedience.

 Karma Nirvana,

...a charity that supports victims and survivors of honor based violence, reported on its Website that it receives “on average approximately 5,000 calls a year on our national helpline supporting all victims and survivors of forced marriage and honor based abuse.”

Jasvinder Sanghera, of the Karma Nirvana, fled her parent’s home when they attempted to force her into an arranged marriage at the age of 14.

She urged Asian community leaders in Britain to speak against the honor code, also known as “Izzat” in Urdu language.

“I’ve yet to see community leaders, religious leaders, politicians; Asian councilors give real leadership on this. They don’t because they know it makes them unpopular,” Sanghera told the BBC.

According to a spokesperson for the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organization (IKWRO), last year in the U.K. there were over 2,800  cases of  "‘honor’ based violence" reported to the police.

“These figures demonstrate that ‘honor’ based violence is not a minor problem but a very serious issue which affects thousands of people each year, many of whom will suffer high levels of abuse before they seek help,”

Many feel that 'forced marriage' is a major factor in honor based violence, so in an effort to thwart violence against young women who refuse to marry men that their families match them up with, Brit authorities are considering criminalizing it.

The Home Office has launched a campaign seeking public opinion on creating a specific criminal offence for forced marriages and how it should be formulated.

I sincerely doubt anything will come of it. Arranged marriages are a long standing tradition for many Asians, and laws won't prevent them from taking place, or the violence against a daughter/sister who refuses to comply.