Saturday, October 25, 2014

The status of women in Iran is precarious at best. There are strides made, but, extremism continues.

October 25, 2014
By Claudie Puig

...The United Nations, (click here) as well as Amnesty International, and other human rights groups had called for a halt to the execution, which was carried out after the country's Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

"We join our voice with those who call on Iran to respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its people under Iran's own laws and its international obligations," Psaki added.

The court ruling in her 2009 sentence rejected the claim of attempted rape, saying evidence — including the purchase of a knife two days earlier for protection — proved Jabbari plotted to kill Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

"The knife had been inflicted on the back of the deceased, indicating the murder was not self-defense," the court ruling stated. A police investigation found Jabbari sent a text to a friend saying she would kill Sarbandi three days before the incident, according to IRNA.

Amnesty International said Jabbari confessed to the murder immediately after her 2007 arrest, citing self-defense after Sarbandi tried to sexually abuse her. The group called the investigation into Jabbari's claims "deeply flawed."..
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The Revolution caused repeal of many advances women made previously. 

A few examples illustrate the nature of the reversal: (click here)
- Enforcement of compulsory hejab (or veil) or the Islamic code of dress, which deprived women of the right to choose their own attire;

- Repeal of reforms in family laws;

- A ban on appointment of women as judges and expulsion or change of the employment status of female judges;

- Forbidding women employed by the armed forces from receiving military ranks and reducing their employment status to that of office employees;

- Stoppage of the family planning and population control policy;

- Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men;

- Emphasis on the absolute right of custody for the father or the paternal grandfather in the matter of matrimony of female children to the extent that the father or the grandfather can marry a child of nine years of age to any man he intends....
The sexual status of a woman is overwhelming in the social settings of Iran. In that regard, Iran is not much different than Pakistan. While The West would expect a woman under such circumstances to be honored when stating she was threatened with rape that caused her to act that is not the case in Iran. Ms. Jabbari was realized to be the killer of Mr. Sarbandi, the task that would follow would be to win a reprieve from the deceased's family. That did not occur. Ms. Jabbari's word is far less important than anyone else playing a part in her prosecution. 

Yet, Tehran oversees such inequity such as gang rape while women are attempting to rise out of the mire of gender.

June 15, 2011
Recent reports of gang rapes (click here) in Iran are worrying women and raising questions about social values, reports Mohammad Manzarpour of the BBC Persian Service.
In a religiously conservative town near the city of Isfahan, women at a private party were abducted last month and gang raped at knife point.
One week later, a female university student was attacked and raped by unknown assailants on the heavily-guarded campus in Masshad, a holy city.
In both cases, officials accused the victims of not wearing the hijab or headscarf in the proper fashion and general un-Islamic conduct.
These high-profile cases and the derogatory comments made by Iranian authorities have outraged women's rights groups who have long complained of the increasingly high rate of sexual harassment....
I understand law and justice is different in Iran. But, at some point the Supreme Leader needs to revitalize a better status for women. The revolution was to bring equity to the people from a top down dictatorship indulged in opulence and narcissistic values. I understand all that, but, at the same time the former Shah was so involved with himself he never really paid attention to the people and women gained status and opportunity. They were not the focus of sexual status which reflects the status more of men then women.

Virgin, wife, mother and grandmother are all sexual status, but, best valued by men more than women. The sexual status of a women reflects in turn that of men.

While the global community dearly wanted to participate in elevating the virtues of this woman, Iran simply chugged along without recognizing the focus. I think it is wrong. When such focus exists by those outside of Iran it is an opportunity. An opportunity to bring The West and Iran a step closer together.

Ebola crosses another border.

Okay what is the deal over there already? No medical clinics? People can't afford the medical clinics? They don't understand the disease and it's dangers?

There has to be a way of reaching the average West African to educate them about Ebola.

The USA first made the mistake with HIV by not distributing Spanish leaflets of information and educating about condoms. The Hispanic population in the USA suffered greater infection and death because of it. When Social Workers finally educated the Spanish speaking people in the USA the infections slowed and stopped. 

What is it already in West Africa? Too many languages, then print fliers in all languages. People don't read, then prepare videos in their native language that can be viewed on screens from a mobile trailer. People are too distracted, then their leaders need to instill the fear of god(s) in them and tell them if they don't learn about Ebola and how to detect and prevent it they will ultimately die. 

There has to be some methods of having the civilians in West Africa understand their own mortality with this virus. A symptomatic child was allowed to simply be sick? People don't appreciate their own lives if they can't understand the need for compassion for a child that is symptomatic needing emergency care.

Their lives may seem hard and impossible, but, Ebola will cause hardship they never bargained for.

People entering Mali from Guinea are having their temperature checked

October 25, 2014
The authorities in Mali (click here) have confirmed the death of the country's first Ebola patient, a two-year-old girl.
The World Health Organisation said the toddler had travelled hundreds of kilometres by bus from Guinea through Mali showing symptoms of the disease.
More than 40 people known to have come into contact with her have been quarantined.
The girl was being treated in the western town of Kayes, after arriving at a hospital on Wednesday.
The child had travelled more than 1,000 km (600 miles) from Guinea through the capital, Bamako, to Kayes.
"The child's symptomatic state during the bus journey is especially concerning, as it presented multiple opportunities for exposures, including high-risk exposures, involving many people," the WHO said.
The girl's mother died in Guinea a few weeks ago and the child was then brought by relatives to Mali.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have seen most of the 4,800 Ebola deaths....