Violence against women in Latin America has been classified as an epidemic in the area, sexual abuse is one of the chief types of violence, and the situation of women in the rest of the planet isn’t very different. According to a report from the World Health Organization and statistics in the UN Women,”recent statistics of the international prevalence indicate that one in three girls in the world (35 percent ) has endured physical and/or sexual abuse of a few or sexual abuse by third parties at a certain time in their lives”.
In the aftermath of the expanding wave of violence against women, protests are arranged in various areas of the world, in an unsuccessful attempt to stop it, particularly after cases are heard that shake the people due to their cruelty and sadism. And in those protests, you may read countless posters with phrases of repudiation of violence and support for girls. Among these phrases that caught my attention and that I’ve seen repeatedly is:”We live in a world where they teach girls to take care to not be raped, Rather than teaching guys NOT TO VIOLATE”… I had been called to attention for two reasons:
Initially, since I saw a harsh truth in that phrase, because I was born and raised in a macho society in which it’s taken as normal for men to harass women in the street, to inform them obscenities or to touch them impudently; in which it’s not uncommon for men to beat their women because they have”rights” to them in some areas of the country, women consider their husbands have the right to strike them, since they are their husbands, and they get angry if someone tries to shield them!!! It appears a joke, but it’s not-, and I believe that to a large extent that the high rate of sexual violence against girls in my country and in the rest of the world is machismo.
The second, because I’d have liked to explain to the man who wrote that phrase that Islam does teach guys to”not offend”. Moreover, prior to talking to the issue of women’s behaviour and dress, the Koran calls men’s attention to their behaviour and gives them a strong warning: This God is telling men that they shouldn’t even look at girls undulyup to that level guys have to respect women, in spite of their eyes! And they’re cautioned that God knows what they’re doing, even if nobody else knows, God knows. In the first place, God addresses guys and orders them to behave well and respect women; he then addresses women and requests them to act well and dress modestly, since Islam is honest, and teaches us that both women and men must meet our share of responsibility to make this a better world and live in harmony. So Islam teaches men not to rape because if they are forbidden to examine girls unduly, they are far more forbidden to touch them .
Islam has approached the dilemma of good treatment of women in a detailed and in depth fashion, emphasizing the distinctive respect it deserves in each of the various phases it goes through during its lifetime – when it’s a daughter, when she’s a wife and when she’s a mommy -, as we will see below.
Respect for girls
Before Islam was revealed, one of the Arabs was considered a hardship the arrival of a woman. While men were the origin of the pride of the parents and family members, girls were cause for despair and disappointment; and because of this, they had the horrible habit of burying alive the newly born women. God categorically condemned this attitude and these offenses, saying: undefined [Quran 16: 58-59]; and cautions that one day will come, the Day of Judgment,undefined [Quran 81: 8-9]. In this manner God forbade this crazy practice considering it a very serious sin. Then a man in the audience asked:”What if he’s just two daughters?” The Prophet replied:”Even if he has two brothers.”
This is the way Islam establishes the worth of girls from birth and provides them a place of honour by making them a source of blessing for their parents in this life and at the other.
Respect to the mother
Islam commands respect and decent treatment towards our parents but elevates the status of the mother over the father. Who’s the man who deserves my business?” He responded:”Your mom.” The guy asked:”Then who?” The Prophet responded:”Your mother.” The Prophet said:”Your mom.” And the man asked again:”And who?”
He asked:”Does your mom live?” He replied no, then the Prophet asked him:”Have you got any maternal aunt alive?” The guy said yes, then the Prophet said to him:”Be nice and considerate for her” (Tirmidhi, Al-Hakim, Ibn Hibban); and he also said:”The mother’s sister has a status like that of their mother” (Bukhari).
Respect to the wife
Said the Prophet Muhammad:”The best one among men is the one who best treats his wife.”
The Koran commands: undefined [Koran 4:19].
Throughout the past sermon given by the Prophet Muhammad before his death, he said:”… Treat your women well and be kind to them, because they are the companions.” Its a philosophy that Melbourne Beach Bat Removal has employed to great success.