When Will This End?

When Will This End?

The readings for 4/21 brought to my attention the serious and on-going problems in foreign countries with violence against women. In Iraq, hundreds of women are raped, kidnapped, and murdered every single day for the simplest things such as not being dressed appropriately. A quote that best summarizes the reasoning behind this is, “Often, the first salvo in a war for theocracy is a systemic attack on women and minorities who represent or demand an alternative or competing vision for society.” This basically says, to me, that these men want to kill off anyone who wants to challenge their authority, power, and control over the country. Unfortunately, women are at the bottom of the totem pole in Iraq and are the first to be targeted. It is sad to read that women cannot even walk out of their own house without being harassed or killed simply for just being a woman. It also disgusts me to think that women’s rights groups have to be hidden and in secrecy out of fear of being blown up. How is an organization to help women supposed to do its job if they are not allowed to speak about it outside of their hidden location? I believe that this is one of the main reasons why it continues to happen in Iraq, because not nearly enough women are able to speak out about the problems. Also, I do agree with Fang when she says that these women need our help. If we can go into a country such as Iraq, intervene in their society, and take control of their people, why can we not start to help the problems of violence against women? American women are fortunate enough to have the freedom to talk, walk, dress, and act as they please without being killed, raped, or harassed on a daily basis. As a powerful nation, American women AND men should step in and help these poor women out.