saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (04/15/84)
I wanted to clarify this business of rape and islamic law. If anybody
remembers, a few weeks ago I claimed that in islamic law, for a rape
to be recognised as a rape, 4 witnesses had to be present. Mr Martillo
answered me by telling me that I had my facts confused with adultery.
So I asked a friend of mine who has lived in Iran most of his life, (but
who is not a muslim) whether he could shed some light on this matter.
here is his answer:
"I think that you are both right in the following way: in Islam you need
four "men" (sorry I did not write the law) witnesses to any claim in the
Islamic court. I think that means about everything which should also
include the rape.
On the other hand, I have not heard any references to the laws for rape,
and all sightings are about adultery. Therefore he might also be right,
because there are no laws as far as I know, about rape.
I think there are more rapes in North America as there are more of all
sorts of other crimes. Probably women show much more of their body in
Europe and there are less rapes there.
Second, the most important factor is the fact that with the mentality of
such countries no one reports the rape. Being raped is probably as degrading
as being responsible for it"
So we are getting closer to getting a full picture on the subject.
BTW I don't really know if there are less rapes in Europe than here;
I assume he meant proportionally. Is there anybody who can shed even
more light on these matters?
Sophie Quigley
...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax,allegra}!watmath!saquigleyriddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (04/17/84)
The only light I can shed on rape in Europe is second-hand at best and
folklore at worst: Germans of my acquaintance have told me that the
only communities in Germany where rape is a commonplace occurrence are
those where there are a lot of foreigners (i.e., American servicemen
and foreign workers from Turkey and Southern Europe). I don't know
whether or not this is true, but there is at least some circumstantial
evidence for it: in German cities you will see women walking alone
freely at all times of the day and night with little or no fear.
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddlejbf@ccieng5.UUCP (Jens Bernhard Fiederer) (04/17/84)
Regarding rape in Germany: my mother and grandmothers are German, and would-be rapists would shorten their life expectancy considerably by threatening them. German women can be formidable; in her 60's, my grandmother was casually tossing around boulders five times the size of my head (for terracing a rock garden). Till Eulenspiegel -- "Some people are eccentric, but I am just plain odd" Reachable as ....allegra![rayssd,rlgvax]!ccieng5!jbf