This is a typical Western treatment of sexual violence in faraway (always preferably Muslim) lands. Notice that stories of rape of women and children in the US never receive the extensive and prominent coverage that the rape of women and children in Muslim lands receive. And notice that the issue is presented as a uniquely Muslim phenomenon. Let us begin: "Activists and government leaders note that sexual violence is hardly unique to Pakistan, citing widespread abuses across much of the Middle East and South Asia, including the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old New Delhi student in December that shocked India." We accept that it is not unique to Pakistan (obviously) but then you add that it also exists in Middle East and South Asia but NOT in the US, which has one of the worst records of sexual violence and where 23 women are killed by men (husbands or boyfriends) EVERY DAMN WEEK? That certainly is much higher than anything we know in Pakistan. Here is another passage about child molestation: "But according to Sahil, an Islamabad-based activist group, cases of child sexual abuse covered by the media grew from 668 in 2002 to 2,788 in 2012." But here are some facts in the US (not Pakistan): "FACT: Even if the true prevalence of child sexual abuse is not
known, most will agree that there will be 500,000 babies born in the US
this year that will be sexually abused before they turn 18 if we do not
prevent it.
- Adult retrospective studies show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). This means there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S.
- The primary reason that the public is not sufficiently aware of child sexual abuse as a problem is that 73% of child victims do not tell anyone about the abuse for at least a year. 45% of victims do not tell anyone for at least 5 years. Some never disclose (Smith et al., 2000; Broman-Fulks et al., 2007". Mr. Craig then adds this as a theory about the reason for sexual violence against women and children: "Some blame the country’s conservative, Islamic-centered school system, which they say has been too slow to reverse cultural norms that treat females as inferior." So the Islamic-centered school system is also to blame here in the US?
