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Burkas, Sexual Mutilation, and Senseless Deaths
Jane Woelk A few weeks ago, I had just passed through security at the Winnipeg airport, and turned around at the loud beeping sound coming from the security gate behind me. Having just stepped through it, a burka-shrouded woman (I assume it was a woman, but couldn't be sure because she was covered from head to toe, including her eyes), stood as two security guards stood in front of her with their heads together, obviously deciding whether or not to have her searched, as she had set off the metal detectors. They let her go, without even passing the wand over her body. Interestingly enough, my husband was not so lucky, and had to remove his shoes, his belt and the gum package in his pocket; then had to have the wand passed over his body for the second time prior to being allowed to pass through security. A thought went through me that it was odd that this woman was traveling alone, that she set off the alarms, and that no one checked her more thoroughly before allowing her to board a plane. A second thought of injustice of another nature crossed my mind and that was: "How could she even see, given the black gauze of fabric across her eyes, or walk in that cumbersome black cloak." It was a warm day and she must have been uncomfortable underneath all of that material. She spoke not one word to anyone. So, to me anyway, she was face-less, shape-less, and voice-less. She could have been my daughter and I would not have recognized her.
The December, 2004 issue of "Chatelaine" magazine contained an article about the cultural practices in Senegal where girls as young as 10 are forced into sexual mutilation, marriage and childbirth, some of whom die as a result. In this article, a group of 10-year-old girls held a protest rally, complete with signs to save their classmate from her father who was forcing her to marry a 22-year-old man, when she was only 10 years old. The law of the land is that no one is to marry prior to the age of 16, but cultural practices differ from the law in many instances. This 10-year-old girl had already been mutilated (female genital cutting) at the hands of an old woman, known as "the cutter" in the community. No anesthetic had been used. The good news is that the marriage was annulled two days after this girl's classmates had spoken to the village chief at the community management office. The news had spread to the entire village, and the media was alerted as to the nature of the protest march arranged by the girls. The Senegal was alerted and law enforcement officers were sent to the village.
In Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 13, 2006, at Dawson College, a 25 year-old resident of Laval, Quebec shot 20 students randomly, killing Anastasia Rebecca de Sousa, an 18-year-old young woman in the prime of her life. Miraculously only this one student died of the 20 who were shot. The shooter was a frequent visitor to the website www.vampirefreaks.com. His mode of dress was similar to the Columbine gunman: military-style, with black boots and a black trench coat.
On September 27, 2006, a 32-year-old man walked into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and tied young girls legs together, then methodically executed five of the girls, and critically wounded several others, before taking his own life. In a note, the gunman had claimed to be angry at God and at feminists.
How does a burka-clad woman, genital mutilation of young girls, and these senseless shootings relate? I believe that there is a pattern of discriminating against, devaluing, and dehumanizing innocent people, which results in violent acts primarily committed by men against women. Men are not required to cover their faces in public in any culture or religion. Circumcision of male genitals does not cause infertility, or the inability to feel sexual pleasure, as does female genital mutilation. Random and sometimes deliberate shooting by men in schools of innocent victims, mostly females is unconscionable brutality of the innocent at its worst. So, what can the Abuse Prevention and Advocacy programs of the Mennonite Central Committee do to prevent further shootings, genital mutilation, or the discrimination of genders? That is a very difficult question.
For those of you who are already volunteering, we thank you. To the readers of this article, just as the burka-shrouded woman is face-less, so are the participants in the abuse prevention and advocacy programs of the Mennonite Central Committee. However, they are not voice-less. Their stories are heard. Our job sometimes is to speak for them and spread the word that injustice still runs rampant in our North American society. Violence against others can be stopped; there is hope; our faithful compassion for others, along with God's great love can make a difference.
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