Challenge #3: Violence and Harrassment

Violence against women is something that is unfortunatel common worldwide. We’ve heard about in the media a lot lately, with the controversy Daisy Coleman in Maryville, Missouri, where a freshman in high school was raped by an upperclassman football start.  In America, there are laws to protect women in court (or, at least in theory as the Coleman case disproves). However, this isn’t the case in other countries. We hear in the news regularly about places with child marriage, common domestic abuse and the continual raping of women in conflict areas. Perhaps the best-remembered instance occurred in 2011, when Lara Logan, a CBS Foreign Affairs correspondent, was in Cairo reporting on the uprisings against then-President Mubarak and was brutally gang-raped then left for dead.

Since then, coverage of Egypt’s rampant sexual assaults has been minimal – until this July, when another journalist was gang raped, this time from the Netherlands. She, like Logan, had to be flown out of the country for days of medical treatment because her wounds and internal damage were so severe. The mob violence that allowed her attack is a constant presence in Egypt’s major cities, and the ‘revolutionaries’ aren’t just attacking foreigners; Egyptian women are also prime targets. The trend of attacking journalists is viewed as just a way to get the message of ‘women don’t belong in politics and don’t have a right to a voice’ easily publicized worldwide. For the women who live in Egypt, that message is given through assault daily.  According to CNN, there were 63 reports of assault within a single two day period in Cairo this July, and that’s probably a low estimate.

Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Egyptian women have been lower-class for decades due to the Islamic law employed by both Mubarak and successor Mohamed Morsi and are often subjected to cruel treatment, like genital mutilation, lack of access to education, and restrictions on movement. Women who are subject to sexual violence are branded as prostitutes if they seek medical attention, and sexual harassment is nearly constant and has only never brought up in government, except to declare it a non-issue that can’t be prevented. This all culminates in the obvious results of a Pew research study: more men disprove of gender equality in Egypt than support it, and these statistics and stories are only exacerbated during the riots and revolutions.

As for what can be done about it, that remains to be seen. How many horror stories about the physical brutality of rape can we hear, before we become desensitized? Education, both of the outside world about Egypt’s dire situation and of Egyptian women, is essential. To prevent the attacks, which often can be extremely violent and involve all sorts of weaponry, would be to let those who support excluding women from the government win.  Human Right Watch, an organization that put together an informative video about the topic, describes the culture as an epidemic, and encouraged the government to take action, but without a stable system their calls will fall on deaf ears.

I am lucky enough to have never lived in the constant fear that Egyptian women do, and lucky to live in a society where women are mostly supported. However, there are still too many instances of abuse like Coleman’s that go unprosecuted because of discrimination and fear. We as a country should work against these cases and refuse to let these perpetrators walk free. 

Cia♀,

Charlie

For more information about women in Egypt, please watch this video:

Challenge #2: Education

Friday was a humbling day. It was the last day of my school's homecoming week which meant it was filled with our school colors: blue and gold. But for fifty minutes, I forgot all about South spirit, and remembered just how lucky I am not only to attend such an incredible high school but also how lucky I am to attend school at all.

My history teacher chose to show us a video that had gone viral the night before. It was a clip of Malala Yousafzai leaving comedian John Stewart speechless. Malala is a sixteen year old girl who, at fourteen, was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan for attending school and advocating for a girl’s right to education. Her stunning quote was in response to how she would react if the Taliban came after her.

I will tell him how important education is and that 'I even want education for your children as well.' And I will tell him, 'That's what I want to tell you, now do what you want.'

            From that statement, it’s obvious why she’s a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. While unfortunately, she didn’t win this year, on Friday she was still the face of the UN’s International Day of the Girl. This year, fitting with Malala, the theme of the day was girls and education. I’ve heard statistics like how 20% of school-age girls aren’t attending school, and heard the stories of girls who travel miles upon miles to get to school every day, but they’re unimaginable where I live.  But after seeing Malala and putting a face to a problem, I’m beginning to realize the real importance of education and I’m beginning to see my own childhood in a new light.

           

            I’ll admit, I’m a complainer when it comes to school. I get stressed out when tests and projects pile up, and I wish sometimes I didn’t have to deal with it at all. But now I think to myself – what about those millions of girls worldwide without this chance? How would they feel when I, a girl almost done with my secondary education and with collegiate studies at my fingertips, take my opportunity for granted? I’m sure many girls who have had to drop out of school after only completing eighth grade to work on farms or in factories would line up to write my papers.

So what can I do? For one, I plan to finish senior year and maximize my education here. I’ll do what I can to whine less about homework, I’ll gently remind my peers of what life could be like, I will continue fundraising to keep kids in school, and I'll think of Malala.

Cia♀,
Charlie

photo courtesy of http://tschitchat.blogspot.com