Comments on: Kurdish Girls Suffer Sexual Abuse, Mutilation

By: anon

anon — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:16:17 +0000

I’m a kurdish girl, and every Kurd I speak to thinks it is a horrific practice.
It takes place in more rural parts of kurdistan just as it takes place in remote areas of many other islamic countries, e.g. saudi arabia and syria. it is a cultural practice which others try to justify by religion, just like the full burqua and other such traditions.

By: Rudi666

Rudi666 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:46:28 +0000

This article says it is predominantly a rural practice in Kurdistan.

By: Rudi666

Rudi666 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:41:14 +0000

But the issue is that it’s happening with our friends the Kurds in northern Iraq. I wonder how prevalent this was under Sadam?

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:26:47 +0000

Jason: both your comments are correct. It predates Islam and… it is illegal in quite some Muslim countries.

By: Black Shards, In Your Eyes, Blinding » A More Correct Definition of Tolerance

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:06:25 +0000

[...] honor killings, polygamy, and female genital mutilation should be checked at the door. Emigration requires those sacrifices and others to ensure the [...]

By: PoliGazette » A More Correct Definition of Tolerance

PoliGazette » A More Correct Definition of Tolerance — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:05:58 +0000

[...] Kurdish Girls Suffer Sexual Abuse, Mutilation [...]

By: Jason, Managing Editor

Jason, Managing Editor — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:58:30 +0000

From what I have been able to determine in my (admittedly limited) research in this area, the practices of female mutilation generally predate the introduction of Islam to a given area. That means that Islam is not the cause of these practices and cannot be without reversing the flow of time.

Also, there are just as many Islamic areas where these practices are banned as there are Islamic areas where they are practiced. Thus, any claim of association between these practices and Islam cannot be honestly said to exist.

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:53:47 +0000

Marc, I suggest you do some research before blaming Islam for this. “The mother of a just-cut Kurdish girl might be speaking for Islamic women everywhere when she gives her reasons for tricking her daughter…”

For Islamic women everywhere. Really? Have you talked to the average Turkish woman? Most of whom are religious Muslims? I just talked to my Turkish Muslim fiancee who said, literally, “they are barbarians” and “lets talk about something else it makes me sick.”

This is not Islam. It is culture. These people may think it’s Islam but that does not make it so. It happens, by the way, in certain cultures only. You can make a map of them. That’s it.