1. SAVE UR
Daughters and Sisters
Empower Enrich Educate
A K2 Vista Project
sodasblog.wordpress.com

2. SODaS Mission
Reclaiming the Dignity, Beauty and Honor of
Girls and Women in Building Healthy Societies
by
Combating child marriage, Female Genital
Mutilation (FGM), human trafficking,
mutilation, exploitation, violence, and any
crime against humanity

3. Problems
1. Domestic Violence
2. Rape
3. Pornography
4. Prostitution
5. Sex Trafficking/Tourism
6. Female Infanticide/Feticide
7. Honor Killing/Dowry Death
8. Child/Forced marriage
9. Female Genital Mutilation
10. Forced Sterilization
11. Low self-esteem and perception of
beauty/attractiveness

4. Problem
In most patriarchal societies (esp. in developing countries) women
are considered property

5. Exploitation is irrespective of
class, ethnic or religions group.

6. A Silent War on women
• Many laws, little
enforcement
• Religious institutions
apathetic or complicit

7. Devaluing humanity of women

8. Condition of Women
• Homeless
– A majority of the 100 million homeless are
women and children.
• Refugees
– 80% of world’s refugees are women.
• General Poverty
– Women receive 10% of the world’s income, 1%
of world’s property and make up 70% of the
world’s poor.

9. Condition of Women
• Education
– 60% of the children that are kept from school are
girls.
– 66% of the world’s 880 million illiterate adults are
women.
• Maternal Mortality
– 600,000 die each year worldwide through causes
related to pregnancy and childbirth.

10. Domestic Violence
“Dried fish and women are both
better after they are beaten.”
Korean Proverb

11. Domestic Violence
• In the USA 1 in 4 women
are abused by a husband
or boyfriend every nine
seconds.

12. Types of Violence
• Sexual Abuse
– Coercive sex
– Violent sex
– Forcing one’s wife into sex with other men
• Psychological Abuse
– Demeaning language
– Intimidation
– Harassment
– Smothering the person
– Emotional abandonment

13. Types of Violence (Cont.)
• Economic Abuse
– Not providing for a wife’s needs
– Leaching off of a wife’s income
– Bankrupting the family’s finances
– Creating a spirit of economic dependency
• Physical Abuse

14. Rape
One in five will be victims
of rape in their lifetime.

15. Rape Assault on the Soul
The violence of rape is
not merely an assault
on the physical
being, but on the
internal nature of the
woman; it is an attack
on her soul, her
personhood, her
dignity, and her identity.

16. Rape, a Weapon of War
Militias in East and
Central Africa are gang-
raping and abducting
girls as young as 8 and
women as old as
80, systematically
killing, torturing or
using them as sex
slaves,…

17. South African Myth: Sex With a Virgin
Prevents AIDS

18. Pornography
• In US a $10-14B industry
• Hard Core
– Is violent and “sick”
– Sadism-masochism, torture
– It is about the power over and control of women
• Soft Core
– Pin-ups, Playboy, locker room jokes, but still
harmful

19. Prostitution
As many as 400,000 prostituted children
in US
45,000 to 50,000 women & children
trafficked into US every year, often for
purpose of prostitution
(Spangenberg, 2001)
More than 600,000 child prostitutes
working in US & Canada--produces $5
billion worldwide
Flowers, R. B. (2001). The sex trade industry’s worldwide exploitation of children. Annals, AAPSS, 575, p. 147-157.

20. Prostitution: Facts
1. Average age of entry into prostitution is between 13-14 years.
• Most of these 13-14 year old girls are recruited or coerced into
prostitution.
• The age of entry into prostitution is decreasing.
2. Incest is “boot camp” for prostitution.
• Estimates of the prevalence of incest in the personal histories
of prostitutes range from 65% to 90%.
• 85% of prostitutes report a history of sexual abuse in
childhood.
• 70% report being victims of incest.

21. Prostitution: Facts
3. Pimps target girls that are
vulnerable, naïve, lonely, homeless, rebellious.
• Once recruited, or purchased, prostitutes are kept in bondage
to the pimp by verbal and physical abuse.
• 85% of prostitutes report being raped by their pimps.
4. Why do prostitutes stay with pimps?
• Humans bond emotionally with their keepers in captivity.
• Pimps isolate prostitutes to make them totally dependent
upon them.
• Pimps use force to hold prostitutes captive.

22. Prostitution: Policy
• If we view prostitution as violence against women, then it makes
no sense to legalize or decriminalize it.
• Decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution would legitimate
practices that are human rights violations, and in any other
context would be illegal.
• In 1999, the Swedish Parliament put into effect a law that
criminalizes the buying of sexual services, but not the selling of
sexual services.
• Social reformists consider the Swedish law as a humane
alternative because it places the criminal burden on the
“perpetrator” rather than the “victim.”

23. A Modern Slave Trade
• Prostitution not only is inherently harmful and dehumanizing to
women and children; it also fuels the growth of trafficking in
persons, or modern-day slavery.
• Women and girls, worldwide, are lured to foreign nations with
promises of jobs. Then, they are forced into prostitution.
• “With globalization and cheap transportation, you can move
people easier and quicker than guns or drugs. And you can use
them over and over and over again. You don’t just sell them once
and call it a day. It’s very, very profitable.”
Joy Zarembka of the Campaign for Migrant Domestic Workers Rights

24. WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
Human Trafficking is defined as
the
recruitment, harbouring, transport
ation, provision or obtaining of a
person for commercial sex, labour
or services through the use of
force, fraud, or coercion, for the
purpose of subjecting that person
to involuntary
servitudes, peonage, debt
bondage, or slavery.
This includes Sex
trafficking, bondage
For work and Bride trafficking

25. Girls & women treated as commodity
exchanged, bought or sold

26. Owners decides their properties fate

27. A world-wide phenomenon

28. Trafficking: the numbers
• It is estimated that 27,000,000 slaves exist in our
world today
• Each year, 800,000 people are trafficked across
international borders
• 80% female and 50% children
• Money made from human trafficking rivals that
made from drug trafficking and illegal arms trade for
the top criminal activity
• Trafficking is a $10 billion a year enterprise
• There are more human slaves today than when
slavery was legal in the world

29. Causes of trafficking
• Poverty especially among women worldwide
• Inadequate education
• Inadequate employment
• Erosion of traditional family values
• Racial discrimination, racism and intolerance
• Media, new technologies, pornography
• Discrimination of women, male attitudes

30. Causes of trafficking contd.
• Economic disparities within countries
• Globalization and economic liberalization
• Civil and military conflicts/military bases
• Transnational crime and weak law
enforcement
• Corruption by police, law enforcers, officials
• Expanding commercial sex industry

31. Trafficking Statistics
• 200,000 women and girls are trafficked in
the Balkans each year.
• In 1993, the Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
estimated that there were between 80,000 -
100,000 Thai women working in the sex
industry in Japan.
• Asian women are sold for $16,000 to
brothels in the USA.
• 10,000 women from the former Soviet Union
are forced into prostitution in Israel.

32. Three Methods of Traffickers
• Fraud – offered jobs, in some “romantic” place, as
maids, in childcare, in travel or entertainment
• Violence – Force to break the woman’s will. She
may be beaten, raped or “imprisoned” to bring her
to a point of compliance
• Intimidation – Her travel documents may be taken
from her, so she is in her new country illegally.
Threats of injury or death to family at home

33. Bride Trafficking
• China’s one child policy
• now 111 million men who will not be able to
find a wife
• Thriving trade in bride trafficking
– Within China
– Outside China: North Korea, Vietnam

34. Baby Body Parts
• East European women brought to Italy
• Impregnated
• Held in bondage until baby is born
• Baby body parts harvested
• Sold to private clinics in Israel and Turkey

35. Sex Touring Companies
• Packaged tours
• Airfare
• Ground
Transportation
• Hotels
• Tour “Companion”

36. Why Does It Happen?
• Older men, from the USA and Europe looking
for companionship in exotic places
• Seeking to avoid social stigma of using
prostitutes in their own countries
• Looking for young girls, expecting to avoid
sexually transmitted disease

37. Acid Attack
To disfigure, to punish, to
make undesirable
(Victim Khadijah Age 25 yrs
Age and name of boy unknown )

38. Female Feticide &
Infanticide
Aborting female fetus or new born girl

39. India - Abortion Clinic Advertisement
“… it is better to
spend $38 now
to terminate a
female fetus
[baby] than
$3,800 later on
her dowry.”

40. China
– One child policy
– 1 million abandoned a year
– 111 million more men than women

41. India
– Between 2-5 million female babies are aborted
each year in India
– Dowry and marriage costs overwhelm poor
– Infant girls are buried or starved to death

42. Dowry Death
In India there are more than 5,000 women killed each year because
of inadequate dowries.

43. Dowry Death
• Bride fails to bring a high enough
dowry
• Groom or his family want to gain
another dowry so they kill the first
wife
• Drive to suicide
• Kitchen accidents

44. Child/Forced Marriage
• Without consent, not fully informed or under
duress, coercion.
• Poverty major cause, and girls considered burden.
• Marriage to older man can bring financial or social benefit
• Sometimes marriage is a transaction done to settle debts
• Not mature, physically and emotionally, and not able to
negotiate contraception that leads to early pregnancy
• Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, as older husbands may be
infected
• Best way to address through education and poverty
alleviation.

45. Prevalence of Child Marriage –
Top 20 Countries Girls Married Before Age 18 (%)
1 Niger (1998) 76
2 Chad (2004) 71
3 Bangladesh (2004) 68
4 Mali (2001) 65
5 Guinea (1999) 64
6 CAR (1994/95) 57
7 Nepal (2001) 56
8 Mozambique (2003) 55
9 Uganda (2000/01) 54
10 Burkina Faso (2003) 51
11 India (1998/99) 50
12 Ethiopia (2000) 49
13 Liberia (1986) 48
13 Yemen (1997) 48
15 Cameroon (2004) 47
16 Eritrea (2002) 47
17 Malawi (2000) 46
18 Nicaragua (2001) 43
18 Nigeria (2003) 43
20 Zambia (2001/02) 42

46. CHILD MARRIAGES
Soon to be wed Faiz Mohammed, 40 and Ghulam Haider, 11
in rural village of Afghanistan (Photo Stephanie Sinclair)

47. CHILD BRIDE
Said Mohammed 55, and Roshan Kasem, 8, engaged. Father of the bride
Says he does not want to give his daughter away at such a young age, but he
Cannot afford to keep her.

48. CHILD BRIDES
Mohammed Fazal, 45 with his 2 wives Majabin 13, and Zalyha 29 in Afghanitan.
Majabin’s father offered her up as a settlement for gambling debt after playing cards.

49. CHILD BRIDE
Raja,16, and 15-year-old child bride Sintu look on at the Balaji temple in a Rajasthan
village as part of centuries-old custom that betroths toddlers and forces children to get
married .

50. Regional Variation -- Ethiopia
48% of CM in
Ethiopia occurs in
the north:
Amhara 90%
Tigray 82%
Affar 77%
Ben-Gumz 75%

51. Regional Variation - India
5 states in India have highest
percentages of child
marriage:
Madhya Pradesh: 73%
Andhhra Pradesh: 71%
Rajasthan: 68%
Bihar: 67%
Uttar Pradesh: 64%

52. Regional Variation – Nigeria
71% of CM in Nigeria
occurs in the north:
83% in North West
78% in North East

53. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

54. FGM Practiced: 2 million girls each year

55. Tools of FGM
Usually done in
primitive, non-sterile
conditions with
common cutting
instruments, including
kitchen knives, sharp
rock, piece of
glass, razor blade or
household scissors.

56. Female Genital Mutilation myth
“Circumcision makes
women clean, promotes
virginity and chastity
and guards young girls
from sexual frustration
by deadening their
sexual appetite.”

57. FGM Victim

58. Why is FGM practiced?
• Tradition
• Perceived religious requirement
– (not actually required in any religion)
• Marriage eligibility
• Rite of passage into womanhood
• Geography and neighbors’ practices
• Mark of status
• Lack of knowledge about medical consequences

59. Why are Female Genital Mutilations
Performed?
• Primarily done to ensure abstinence before
marriage, and fidelity after marriage.
• If women get no pleasure from
intercourse, they will not have sex when
unnecessary for procreation or marital
relations.
• Done under the blanket of “Tradition”

60. Honor Killings

61. Honor Killings

62. Family Honor
• Because a woman is the property of men, she is a
reflection on the family’s honor.
• A young girl is taught to remain a virgin until she is
married.
• They are taught about eib which means shame and
sharaf which means honor.
• “ A woman is like a cup; if someone drinks from
it, no one will want it… A woman is like a sheet of
glass; once it is broken it can never be fixed.”

63. Triggers for Honor Killing
• Adultery - marital infidelity
• Fornication – pre-marital sex
• Perception of immoral behavior
• Flirting
• Victim of rape
• Refusal to submit to an arranged marriage
• Seeking a divorce from a cruel husband
• Execution:
Shot, Stoned, Poisoned, Beheaded, Stabbed,
Strangled

64. Forced Sterilization
• In Vietnam, more than 31,000 women underwent
quinacrine sterilizations between 1989 and 1993.
• The Peruvian government began a public health
sterilization program in 1995. 1997 saw 110,000
women sterilized in the program.
• Between 1965-1971, one million women in Brazil
had been sterilized.
• In the 1970’s it is estimated that “25-40% of
American Indian women were sterilized without
their informed consent…”

65. Low self-esteem and beauty
• Today’s standards of attractiveness and beauty
are defined by popular culture and media

66. Every Nation, Community, Tribe has different forms
of divine beauty, we just have to recognize them.

67. So many problems

68. Muslim Problems, Islamic Solutions
• Muslims living in the West or East are not
immune to societies problems.
• Many if not all the issues highlighted exist
either openly or behind closed doors in
Muslim communities and Countries
• Sometimes Religion is misused to allow wrong
doing and in other cases cultural baggage

69. Domestic Violence
Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of
them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the
good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has
guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear
desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-
places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against
them; surely Allah is High, Great. (Quran 4:34)

70. Domestic Violence
• Spousal abuse happens in Muslim families
• “Beat them” been used by some literally and
other Quranic interpretations use “turn away
from them,” “scourge them” or “tap them.”
• Popular usage has been beat them.
• However, scholar say this is symbolic than
literal.
• There is no sanction of violence against
women.

71. Quran admonishes kindness
• O you who believe! it is not lawful for you that
you should take women as heritage against
(their) will, and do not straiten them in order
that you may take part of what you have given
them, unless they are guilty of manifest
indecency, and treat them kindly; then if you
hate them, it may be that you dislike a thing
while Allah has placed abundant good in it

72. Prophet admonishes kindness
• “The best among you is the one who treats his family
best.” Hadith
• Prophet Muhammad never beat his wives
• He admonished in his sermons against violence against
women.
• Once the prophet, was asked about obligations of
husbands toward their wives.
• His answer was:
“Feed her when you eat, and provide her clothing when
you provide yourself. Neither hit her on the face nor use
impolite language when addressing her”

73. Honor Killing
• Killing of women and girls for alleged sexual
misbehavior, including terminating an arranged
marriage, having sex outside of marriage or
bringing dishonor to family or community has no
place in Islam, although it takes place in Muslim
communities and countries, as well as non
Muslim people.
• Tribal justice, or vigilantism are seeds of chaos
and go against the principles and laws of Islam.

74. Rape, Adultery and Stoning
• As with other major faiths including Judaism
and Christianity Islam views adultery as a
major sin.
• However, to be convicted of adultery, requires
4 witnesses, as this is a serious offense and
can lead to slander and more. For four people
to have seen penetration take place is like the
odds of a meteor hitting earth.

75. Rape, Adultery and Stoning
• Quran warns against false Accusations
• “And those who accuse free women then do not
bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving) eighty
stripes, and do not admit any evidence from them
ever; and these it is that are the transgressors”
Quran 24:4
• Unfortunately in many Muslim tribal or
patriarchal societies, this rule is turned on its
head in the case of rape, where woman has to
produce 4 witnesses, and if not she alone can be
accused of adultery.

76. FGM: Female Genital Mutilation
• There is no reference to FGM in Quran
• Only circumcision of males is encouraged
• FGM is a pre-Islamic tradition, practiced primarily in
north and central Africa
• Nothing in Islam encourages mutilation of female
genitals
• Many Islamic Scholars joined against boycott of FGM
and most African states have banned practice
• In 2005 Islamic Conference in Rabat, Morocco leaders
from 50 Muslim nations called FGM un-Islamic and
pledged to crack down on it.

77. Child/Forced Marriage
• To protect chastity Muslims are encouraged to
marry young.
• However, there is nothing in Islamic and
Prophetic tradition that allows forced marriage
and/or child marriage
• Most cited example of Prophets marriage to
Aisha. Based on detailed research (listed in
references), Aisha’s marriage to the Prophet was
consummated when she was an adult.
• The marriage contract is only valid if it is accepted
voluntarily.

78. Child/Forced Marriage
• The tradition of arranged marriages although still
very common is shifting to “love marriages” where
potential spouses meet and decide if they want to
get married.
• However, in Muslim countries Islamic laws are
violated
• Especially in tribal societies, and/or impoverished
families there are examples of young girls being given
away in marriage to settle debts, pay off gambling
loans, or given in marriage to rich sheikhs as well as
being sold or auctioned into sex trafficking rings

79. Quran and Dignity
• We have confirmed dignity on the children of
Adam and favored them specially above many of
those We have created.”(Quran 17:70)
• This dignity is neither earned nor based on
righteous conduct, it is innate.
• Idea of human dignity is combined with Quran’s
stand on justice and equity; and never let the
hatred of anyone lead into sin of deviating from
Justice (5:8)
• Ref: Reading the Quran by Ziauddin Sardar

80. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

81. (We have to work together) to seek a
common solution to a common
problem posed by a common enemy
Malcolm X

82. References
All images are copyright of respective holders.
Most content is adapted from many sources.
Following book Whatmatters is a great resource identifying social issues
A K2 Vista Project
For more resources http://sodasblog.wordpress.com/resources/
Example US Muslim Organizations dealing with Domestic Violence
http://projectsakinah.org/
http://www.asknisa.org/
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007785.html
http://www.isna.net/Resources/articles/domestic-violence/Ending-Domestic-Violence-in-Muslim-Families.aspx
http://www.peacefulfamilies.org/LocalMuslimOrgs.html