Nora, above, didn’t make it. In 1997, in Cairo, Nora was decapitated by her father, who paraded proudly in the streets with her head to reclaim his honor after Nora married without his permission.

http://www.zenafoundation.com

Please give to the Zena foundation and post their link or this post on your blog and facebook pages. Please. Zena Briggs help hunted women before it’s too late. Women who have survived attempted murder or escaped may have nowhere to go or no resources. At risk families need education.

Zena Briggs has been on the run for years, changing her name, and in hiding. She is a survivor who is still being hunted by her own family. Please read the information on the site to learn more about barbaric violence against women. Thank you.

Indeed, it is such a common form of assault that there are multiple organizations that assist victims who survive this abominable crime. These include The Acid Survivors Foundation in Pakistan, The Acid Survivors Foundation in Bangladesh, the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, the Acid Survivors Trust International, etc.

What is acid attacking? It is exactly what it sounds like- assaulting another human being by dowsing them in various corrosive acids. The results range from facial deformity to blindness to deafness to death. The psychological effects include post traumatic stress disorder, exile from community, the harrowing hell of facing others socially- you are, after all, missing your face. In addition to attacking the face, women’s breasts and genitalia are also attacked.

The attacks target all kinds of victims, but eighty percent are women. The crime is overwhelmingly committed by men punishing women for disobedience, suspected adultery, embarrassment of rejection after marriage refusal, or simply for being an unruly wife or daughter. Attacking a woman’s face assures that her beauty will not be seen again by men. Women who have not sufficiently covered themselves is one of the most common reasons. This includes punishment for women who wear pants. According to the Rand Corporation,  women in Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan have been injured “when acid was thrown on their unveiled faces by male fanatics who considered them improperly dressed.” It is also used against prostitutes, to punish them and ensure they will never make a living. Predictably, men and boys also been attacked for suspected homosexuality.

This form of violence can happen anywhere in the world, but is rampant in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Afghanistan.

While any civilized society would lock up offenders and never let them out, in many countries, it’s not really against the law even though it is against the law. Though there are thousands upon thousands of cases every year, hardly anyone is justly punished. Pakistan conservatives, for example, claim that religious law is higher than human courts, and sharia law- God’s law- does not punish men for disciplining family members. Humanitarian groups in Pakistan say there were 8000 attacks in the past decade- JUST in the Islamabad city area alone. Those are just the reported ones- most go unreported, since women must not advertise their disobedience to the law or to society at large. Most burn victims tell others it was an “accident”- the ol’ “fell down the stairs” equivalent. Fewer than two percent of the reported crimes go punished.

The only solution to this problem is to remove social stigma that victim deserved attack, regardless of how “disobedient” or “promiscuous” she was or was perceived to be. This must be done by mandating religious and secular law in all countries to punish this act with return burn. No man is going to throw acid on his ex-girlfriend or a prostitute or his child if he will lose his own face and genitalia in a painful acid meltdown. It will only take one or two such punishments around the world until the whole thing stops.

Warning:

You will find the following pictures very disturbing. I believe we need to be disturbed, to bring to light these unspeakable things, with the hope that a paradigm shift will eventually end many forms of violence in the world. More, though I love my celeb news as much as the next person and recognize the value of entertainment, beauty, and laughter, I think it also important to know what is happening outside of this protective bubble.  It is important to learn more, so that we can get to the root of why these things happen. In addition to helping the victim, we need to understand the fear of women and the religious entitlement that allows crimes like these ones to flourish. Furthermore, it is too easy to not hear the news, or to not believe it- it really can’t be that bad, that common. Out of sight, out of mind. When one sees the real people affected by these crimes, it ceases to be statistical and “other” and becomes real. I can no longer convince myself that it’s isolated or even that it’s not really true.

But  perhaps the most important thing is simply to humanize the victims of these attacks. It is easy to look at the beautiful faces in Glamour Magazine. It is easy to smile at neighbours and friends, even ugly ones. It is a much more difficult thing to look at someone and humanize someone who doesn’t have a face. The fact that the whole world finds it painful to look at you makes you invisible. I want to scurry on and look away. But these are human beings whose visual identities have been permanently seared off of them. These people are human beings who face extraordinary pain, fear, and hopelessness. There is little I can do to help, but I cannot walk on by without acknowledging the humanity of these people.

This is Shahnaz Bibi who was attacked over ten years ago. The photo was taken in Lahore, Pakistan.

This is sixteen year old Najaf Sultana, also in Lahore, Pakistan. Her father felt there were too many women in the family, and attacked her while she was asleep. Her family abandoned her after the attack. She is blind . She has undergone countless plastic surgeries to no avail.

This is Irum Saeed, a photo taken at her office at the Urdu University of Islamabad. She was harmed because she did not wish to marry her attacker. She has undergone dozens of plastic surgeries.

Dina and Peter Athanasius (El-Gowhary) have been in the news this past year. Although there are hundreds of thousands of Dina and Peters who live in fear because they have changed their religion, a capital offense under Islamic law, Dina’s case is different because this young woman has been bravely speaking up to the media and raising awareness of the plight of others like her. Dina was born in Egypt, but her father converted to Christianity. Like other apostates or infidels, they are not free to worship at a church or mosque or synagogue of their choice as we are here in North America. “I have no home, I am always afraid when I go to church or even go out in the street, I have no friends and no education.” Fatwas have been issued for the “spilling” of their blood. Recently, Dina was attacked by an acid thrower: thankfully, she was wearing a jacket that her father ripped off of her; none of the acid damaged her face. Dina and her father have reached out to their President Mubarak in a public letter begging him to let them leave Egypt since their life is in constant danger. They never go to the same church twice, and live for only a few weeks at a time in any one location.  Dina also bravely wrote to President Obama, saying that she read he said Muslims are treated with respect in America; can he help make it that Christians and others be treated with respect in Egypt? She asked Obama to help her and her father escape to America. Obama has arranged a meeting with the US Committee on International Religious Freedom this month.

In 2007, Ethiopia’s Kamilat Mehdi and both of her sisters were pushed into an alley and attacked with acid by a man who had been stalking Mehdi for four years. Reuters’ Andrew Heavens reported in EthioNews that all girls were injured, but Mehdi suffered the brunt of the damage. Her eyelids were burned off.  Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi, the world’s 64th richest man according to Forbes 2010, is an oil and real estate tycoon known for helping Ethiopian businesses, arts, and charitable causes. Heroically, he flew Mehdi to a hospital in France and paid for all of her medical expenses, so she survived. Her sisters were also treated with his generosity. Women’s human rights groups in Ethiopia say such attacks are thankfully rare in Ethiopia, but that most women suffer other forms of violence against them by intimate partners or hopefuls. Mehdi has been described as heroic, refusing to let this horror dampen her dreams for the future. But heartbreakingly, during treatment she described some of the pain. “It’s hard because every day they do something, and there’s no anaesthetic,” she said. Since she cannot close her eyes, she must sleep with a bandage on her face.

Nurul Dahyatul Fazlinda Mat Haizan of Malaysia was injured along with an elderly woman and a male adult during a family dispute last summer. Today she is back at school, and school authorities have made it clear they will not tolerate teasing of the eight year old victim. Nurul was afraid of going back to school, and asks frequently when her face will go back to normal.

“Donations are desperately needed to finance the medical costs and rehabilitation of Samar (31) and Juwariya (25) Atique whose young lives and hopes were brutally crushed in October 2009 by two men who threw a jug of acid on their faces as the women were returning home from a day’s work in a rickshaw. Their crime – Juwariya had turned down a marriage proposal from one of the men,” states British charity Southall Black Sisters, who are fundraising fees for medical care, surgeries, and counselling for these women. Please help if you can. http://www.southallblacksisters.org.uk/

UK model and television host Katie Piper was attacked by Stefan Sylvestre, hired by ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch. Katie was always interested in beauty and fashion and modelled in pageants, newspapers, and magazines. She decided to show herself publicly in order to raise awareness about acid victims.

Shamsia Husseini was 17, walking to school in Afghanistan when she was attacked because girls who go to school are whores. The literacy rates for Afghani women have hovered between ten and fifteen percent- yes, that’s ten percent who know HOW to read, not ten percent who don’t know-but now thousands and thousands of girls are attending school thanks to the American intervention and liberation. Many girls are attacked and their lives are threatened simply for attending class. Husseini has bravely stated that she will continue school even if the religious police keep trying to kill her.

Iran’s Ameneh Bahrami was harassed repeatedly by Majid Movahedi, who pushed himself against her at every opportunity and constantly asked her to go out with him. She begged him to leave her alone, telling him that she was already married. He threatened to kill her. Finally, he attacked her with acid. “I decided to splash acid on her face so her husband would leave her and I could have her,” Movahedi told the courts. Article 209 of Iran’s constitution states that a woman’s life is valued only half as much as a man’s, in accordance with religious law. While similar crimes frequently go unpunished under court systems that recognize women as men’s property or consider women’s testimony only half the worth a man’s, sometimes sharia’s eye for an eye mandate is fulfilled. In this case, Movahedi was sentenced to have acid dripped in his eye. The victim declined total retribution of having acid splashed in her attacker’s face. “That is impossible and horrific. Just drip 20 drops of acid in his eyes so he can realise what pain I am undergoing.” Ironically, human rights groups have been up in arms about Iran’s cruel and inhumane punishments. In Iran, crimes against women are seldom recognized. In this instance, they got it right, and so instantly the international rights community forgets about the women and all the other women like her.

Sokreun Mean is a Cambodian woman who was attacked by her ex husband’s new wife. Cambodia’s population is primarily Buddhist, usually considered the least patriarchal religious group. Cambodia’s acid attack epidemic is interesting because the phenomenon usually takes place between jealous women fighting over a man. Cambodians are nearly all powerless in a lawless society where human life can be snuffed out for a twenty dollar bill. Women have the least power and their husband or boyfriend is often the only “stability” they have. In an absolutely reprehensible display of jealousy, the phenomenon of burning off another woman’s beauty is rampant. The philandering husband is seldom the victim of such attacks.

Zafar Iqbal is a eunuch in Pakistan, pejoratively called hjiras. Hjiras are an ancient mix of Hindu devotees married to the gods; of modern day intersex or transgendered folk; of men who were castrated for one reason or another in childhood or puberty. They have been considered blessed and close to god, since they were perceived as related to both genders. Hence, dancing “ladyboys” have been traditionally more than entertainment- they have been ways for an audience to be nearer the divine. It has never been an easy life, since prostitution and begging have been the few methods a hjira can earn a living, whether or not s/he was castrated or gender-crossed of his/her own choice, biology, or childhood. Iqbal earns 2.50 when his clients actually pay for their services. It is far more than s/he could earn in other work. Nonetheless, eunuchs were long seen as something holy, despite the social stigma, in South Asia as well as in the words of Christ in the New Testament. But in today’s Pakistan, homosexuality is punishable by death, and so ladyboy fans blame the dancers for their own desires, much as men blame women for their desires. Wo/men like Iqbal are often raped, robbed, and beaten with no protection from the state or from society. Last year, Pakistan’s top judge ordered rights for hjira, putting into motion the intention to accept them as “other” or a third gender as opposed to nothing, as neighbouring India has recently done.

There are plenty of criticisms any intelligent person could launch at the Obama administration, whether you are supporters or not. But the unstoppable Sarah Palin wants to make sure no child will be suffocated by the socialist brainwashing of first lady Michelle Obama, whose weapons of mass destruction include her Satanic “Let’s Move” program. The initiative dares to promote evil concepts like teaching children about fitness and vegetables.

“Take her anti-obesity thing that she is on. She is on this kick, right. What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat. And I know I’m going to be again criticized for bringing this up, but instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician’s wife priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back, and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track.”

Ummmmmmm, excuse me???? “Just leave us alone????? Just get off our back?????”

Seems Palin and her ignoramus posse are incapable of noticing that no, we can’t trust American parents to make decisions for their children. Parents tell their children religious fairy tales and insist they are true. They pass along superstitious lies. They teach their kids to hate people,and hate themselves.They teach their kids that they will burn in flames forever and ever if they don’t hate gay people. Some parents beat the living shit out of their kids. Some parents refuse to teach their children about birth control. They teach their daughters that her only value rests in her virginity. They teach their kids that mentally ill people are possessed by demons. That The Pill is a form of abortion.That a fetus with no nervous system or consciousness is the only human who has any rights.Some parents don’t read at all, and have no formal or folk education in science, medicine, psychology, literature, art, anthropology, history, geography. Some parents boink their children. No, I don’t trust these parents to make decisions for their children. Children need support in other ways so that they might have a chance in hell.

But sticking to the topic at hand, some great reasons why kids need support at school and from their communities and yes, government, when it comes to fitness information: Because some children don’t have parents. Because some children have shitty parents. Because some parents are also victims of the corporate libertarianism that has sold us hideously destructive, addictive foods and made us sick. Because some parents didn’t know any better and were told that Wonder Bread and Krap dinner is healthy. Because some parents are so poor that they have to feed their kids Krap dinner, or are working three jobs and aren’t around to supervise eating habits. Because some parents are the opposite of fat, and teach their children that food is disgusting and they don’t need nutrients at all, that they are unloveable if they eat.

Because the North American television and video game culture is the real parent in many homes. Because tv culture has made kids sedentary, and some incentive to actually “play” can go a long way to helping kids stay active. Some parents set a great example of laying on the couch all day drinking beer and eating chips, hollering if the kids try to engage in conversation or ask to play a game. Some parents are mentally ill or depressed. Some parents have died. Some parents don’t feed their kids at all.

Furthermore, in case Sarah hadn’t noticed: the fat epidemic is, well, huge. People can’t fit into their seats or into airplanes. Parents who are fat have shitty eating habits that they pass to the kids. Americans have among the highest rates of obesity-related diseases in the world. The kind of obese that North America has exists only here- it has started to grow in countries that have adopted American junk food culture- all those empty carbs- chips, soda, bread, Krap dinner, all those processed foods. A market in Germany or India will only have about two canned items and one in a box- the rest is fresh. In American profit mongering, “food” is stuffed into cans and boxes after being stripped of any annoying nutrients it might have had.”

In case Sarah hadn’t noticed, some Americans are the fattest and dumbest people in the world.

But she DID notice. But since she’s one of those totally two faced idiots who can’t think straight, as soon as a black woman in charge decided to act on behalf of the children’s health, Sarah had to complain about it. Just another example of “god-given” idiocy. Here’s what Sarah’s policy was in 2009:

“Alaska is experiencing an obesity epidemic that will have serious consequences for decades to come. Childhood obesity is a complex problem that needs to be addressed at the individual, community, state and national levels.”

Sarah- a secret commie!!!!

Just another example of hot air. Now that Michelle is doing something about it, Sarah has to renege and say it’s communist to care about kids. “Nya Nya nya nya nya” is what Sarah is saying. Real mature.

Lest people be insulted that I am attacking Americans; lest the Fat Pride brigade accuse me of posting these pictures to demean fat people; lest I be accused of Fat Phobia, let me make it clear:

I am posting these pictures to show that it is an emergency.That parents, no,cannot always be trusted to feed their children right. That is is absurd that Sarah ask us to! Some of these fat people may be lazy bums with no self-control; some may be inspiring, loving people; some may be victims of their own excess or greed; some may be victims of the kind of American thinking that pervades “libertarianism” which is only ever liberty for rich or corporate interest to exploit the land and other people, which includes feeding the unwitting masses “unfood” and addicting them on carbs that are more addictive than cocaine.

I cannot have Fat Pride because obesity is unhealthy, not because I look down on fat people. Most fat people will never lose weight and they are still one hundred percent human beings who deserve our compassion and consideration and have equal human rights to all. But that compassion includes not lying about reality.

I am overweight myself.

While sorting my files, I rediscovered this awesome drawing by Donnarama. That’s supposed to be me, dancing with the teletubbies. Yeah, those were the days.

-Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Today is the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Just as we remember veterans on Remembrance Day, it is good for writers and artists and all members of a democratic society, to give pause and thanks for our freedom. Just for today, let us not bellyache on the restrictions we do have. Canada is far from perfect, and censorship still exists. However, today, there are writers in prison around the world for expressing political dissent, uncovering truths and frauds, expressing sexuality, or offending religion. Today religious regimes still torture and put to death people who speak against the regime’s atrocity. We saw this en masse in western culture, for a millennium of executions and imprisonment- the Christian Church burned at the stake anyone who questioned faith or discussed science or progress. This is still happening today- newly Christianized Uganda wants the death penalty for homosexuals and imprisonment for their friends; Dominionist and Reconstructionist groups right here in North America want the death penalty reinstated for gays and adulteresses. All around the world, people with the courage to question or speak up are still oppressed. Sometimes they aren’t saying anything at all, they are simply being- being the wrong religion, being women.

Pen International is one the world’s oldest human rights organizations. Today they ask us to remember the Imprisoned Writer. The Guardian’s Marian Fraser says, “Writers have been sentenced in the past year for hooliganism (Azerbaijan) and defacing a street sign (Georgia). They have been jailed for writing about the environment in Panama and Morocco; handed a three-year sentence for songwriting (Cameroon); a five-year sentence for blogging (Tibet); a 19-year sentence for blogging (Iran). Abducted in Yemen, beaten in Sudan, detained in Mauritania and killed by the dozen in Mexico.”

Here’s a bit of information about PEN International, from their site.

“Originally founded in 1921 to promote literature, today International PEN has 145 Centres in 104 countries across the globe. It recognises that literature is essential to understanding and engaging with other worlds; if you can’t hear the voice of another culture how can you understand it?

Our primary goal is to engage with, and empower, societies and communities across cultures and languages, through reading and writing. We believe that writers can play a crucial role in changing and developing civil society. We do this through the promotion of literature, international campaigning on issues such as translation and freedom of expression and improving access to literature at international, regional and national levels.”

http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/

In addition to imprisonment, writers are routinely executed, even today. Authoritarian religious and political regimes like Iran muzzle their citizens, indeed, world citizens, from speaking, for fear of death is not unrealistic if one offends the controlling faith and power. PEN International lobbies on behalf of writers on death row.

International Freedom of Expression Exchange also advocates on behalf of imprisoned writers, artists, and activists.

http://www.ifex.org

This year, blogger Hossein Derakhshan, who was arrested upon visiting his homeland Iran from Canada in 2008, received a sentence of 19 years in prison. When I mentioned this human rights atrocity to a colleague, she remarked that we have censorship in western culture too, since a cartoon of a nun in an ice cream ad was deemed offensive and did not run.

I am against all censorship. But it is time to stop hiding our heads in the sand. We do not have it “just as bad.” No one went to prison for 19 years, and there were no editorial offices bombed. There were no assassinations. We must strive for freedom to never, ever go back to the days when we would have

hossein derakhshan

been executed for such an ad, or other offenses. But it diminishes the severity of the human rights atrocities that keep this young man, and many others, silent. Hossein’s crime was writing in favour of some systems of Israel government, even though he defended Iran in his bloggings. He also helped teach writers how to blog in Farsi, thus unleashing a whole host of unruly expressions in the blogosphere.Hossein was convicted for collaborating with “enemy states and of propaganda against the Islamic systems” and ““promoting counterrevolutionary cells and insulting Islamic sanctities.”

As for myself, I write frequently about nitwit Christian ministers, and never fear threat of death or jail. We have a long way to go, but we have come so far, and this freedom must be extended to all writers and thinkers all over the world.

And yes, this does mean that uber-conservatives whom I loathe have the same rights as I do to say what they wish. They do not, however, have the right to claim falsehoods as truth, or to torture people who don’t agree with them, and neither do I.

Today, do some googling about writers in prison, and censorship through the ages. Consider donating money to IFEX or PEN, even if it’s just a few dollars, so they can continue their important work.

In my mind, ALL HUMAN RIGHTS hinge on the right to speak freely. No one can discuss problems in theocracy, government, authority, or culture and find solutions, if they can’t, well, discuss those issues and concerns.

“I am now convinced, more than ever, that the path of literature is the assured way to human salvation and to civilisation. I hail the power of the pen.”

Nigeria’s Ken Saro-Wiwa,  hanged on 10 November 1995

Gonzalo and I met nearly a decade ago and have since worked together on various arts projects.  It wouldn’t be overstating the case to say he is very likely the most stylish person I know. His flare for composition and structure juxtapositions in his daily dress or home surroundings is impeccable. The attention to detail is as natural to him as breathing. He is understated and tailored and yet there is nothing conventional about him. Since these qualities extend to his personality as well, I simply accept him as a natural work of art. I consider him a true taste-maker.

Gonzalo’s new line of shoes for men, Quixotic Footwear, is spectacular. They are certainly “Weapons of subtle disruption.” I can totally picture the supremely stylish Adrien Brody wearing them. They are elegant and distinctive and yes, subtle, and outrageous.

This line is hand made by Gonzalo and master craftsmen from his country of origin, Peru, in leather and luxury fabrics.

Visit him at this link to learn more:

http://quixoticfootwear.com

SHare the love at http://artistinresidenceiaiangreenson.blogspot.com/

I’ve been archiving, cataloging, rescuing, rediscovering, organizing, sorting, and so on all of my art files now that I have a properly working computer again. I’ve also committed to re-immerse myself in my visual arts, since they’ve taken a back seat to my writing projects the past couple of years. There are only so many hours in the day, and since I always have a thousand ideas and projects started, it seemed like a good idea to try to focus. But I’ve realized how important my art work is to my psyche and health, and also to my writing, since one feeds the other. I have a million ideas up my sleeve now to integrate my artist and writer identities, as well as an exciting visual series on female sexuality pending. So stay tuned as I work hard over the next few months to get the past work organized and mobilize on the new.

For example, I was dabbling in photography but I always, always, always bite off more than I can chew, start a million things, have so many interests. Life is so interesting, there is so much to explore. Taking photos of my urban environment was an exciting path for me, but it got put aside to make room for everything else. Thankfully, I’ve recently rescued the files I thought were gone forever. All of this effort sorting and so forth will make everything so much easier and neater when it’s done- and I’ll have a new main web site, too, where you will be able to access all of my artwork, blogs, etc from a central location. Yay!!!

For now, I invite you to visit me at flickr where I’ve started posting my art pieces as I find the files. These are from my Toronto photography stream. Enjoy!

all photographs by Lorette C. Luzajic

please do not use without permission. if you’d like to post them on your blog or site, kindly ask me- i’m quite nice and approachable. thegirlcanwrite at hotmail dot com

Visit her etsy story at http://www.etsy.com/people/Ulaa

My esteemed colleague, designer Gonzalo de Cardenas, shows a sneak preview to his upcoming shoe collection on Friday night. Please come by and see his creation.