Blog #13: Pakistani Judge Upholds 3 Women’s Conversions

            A controversy over religious conversions that has captivated Pakistanis was finally resolved when a judge ruled that three Hindu women who converted to Islam under disputed circumstances had chosen to go with their new Muslim husbands, causing dismay among their families that they left behind. The Supreme Court has intervened in the three cases in recent weeks, taking the women away from their parents and their new husbands in order to be able to consider their future without any pressure. The court then ruled that all three had freely converted and chosen to remain Muslim. Yet the decision met with harsh criticism from some Hindu leaders and rights activists who feel that the women were forcibly converted and that their cases would make Pakistan's tormented minorities even more insecure as they would be in fear of forced conversion upon themselves as well. The women have been faced with intense community pressure and media scrutiny. Two of the women were kept in a shelter for three weeks in order to make their decisions. During the hearing, the judge told the women that "they could go wherever they choose and that they will be under police protection and no one will harm them." The women were then escorted to the court's registrar's office to record their statements in private. Relatives were not allowed to accompany them. But the parents feel that this was not justified as they could not even talk with their daughters for even a minute. One of the women's family and Hindu community leaders asserted that she was abducted at gunpoint and forced to convert by Mian Mitho, a powerful conservative Muslim politician who sits in the national Parliament. But she and Mitho both denied this and asserted that the truth was that she had fallen in love with a Muslim and therefore became inspired by the teachings of Islam. But Hindu lawmakers feel that the hearing was not justified and that the girls statements should have been made openly. One of the fathers of the girls was distraught after the hearing. “Muslims take away our children as if they are chickens!” he shouted through tears outside the court. We Hindus are being forced to leave this country.” Some rights activists were surprised that the women would want to remain Muslim. A rights activist stated that "this case was a very complex and complicated one as the girls had initially kept changing their statements." She also stated that, “Keeping this case aside, we all know that there is a phenomenon of forced conversions in rural Sindh. It is not a secret.”

            Forced religious conversions, such as those that occur in Pakistan, are one of the major inequalities that many people with our world have to face due their religious beliefs. Because the dominant religious group often feels that they are superior to any other minority religious group within their region, they often exploit the minority group. The dominant group, also usually having a very ethnocentric viewpoint, often feels that their own groups religious beliefs are better than others. They therefore subject the minority group to a lot of prejudice and discrimination, causing this group to be socially stratified based on their religion. They are stratified by having less power, privilege, and prestige. Many of the Hindus in Pakistan feel stratified in these aspects as they feel that they are either being forced to convert to Islam or being forced to leave the country, not having any power or privilege to be able to stand up for themselves. If any of the Hindus did try to stand up for their rights and mobilize for action, then they would most likely be met with counter mobilization from the Muslim majority in Pakistan. Gender is an issue in Pakistan as well. All of the cases of conversion dealt with women. Women being the "weaker" gender and the ones who have to fill their social role of being obedient and docile, makes it hard for them to really stand up for their rights and make their own decisions based solely on what they want. In stricter countries such as Pakistan, women are supposed to be obedient to their husbands and often have way fewer rights. Women are socially stratified as well as they receive less power, prestige, and privilege than their male counterparts. Therefore, it can be hard to say whether or not the women in these cases were forced to convert or decided to convert on their own. It can also be hard to say that if they did convert "on their own," how much their own decision was influenced by the pressure they felt by being a minority due to not only their religion but their gender as well. However, with religion and gender both intertwining as problems for these women show how oftentimes sociological issues can overlap. But with both of these concepts also being social constructs, they should not be such powerful forces within many societies today, as they only create disagreements and differences. Thus, social changes need to take place in order to create better equality within societies, bringing social justice to the Hindu women of Pakistan, as well as people of all genders and religious faiths around the globe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/world/asia/pakistani-judge-upholds-3-womens-choice-of-islam.html?ref=world 

Blog #12: The Global Problem of Gender Inequality

            Severe gender inequality still exists throughout the world despite the substantial national and international measures that have been taken toward gender equality. The only four nations out of over 135 that have achieved gender equality are Costa Rica, Sweden, Cuba, and Norway. Yemen was the country that scored the lowest across all dimensions. Measures of gender equality include access to basic education, health and life expectancy, equality of economic opportunity, and political empowerment. And although there has been progress made to change gender inequalities, much gender discrimination still remains. Thus, total gender equality needs to be made a global priority for human development and economic progress. But the degree and cause of gender inequality varies around the world. Many noticeable crimes against women include violence, femicide, and rape. Honor killing is  also a crime in which a female member of a family is killed for the perception of having brought dishonor to the family. This has become a massive problem in Pakistan and the Muslim Middle East. In Guatemala, women have been killed due to misogynistic violence, in Africa and Yemen, women have been genitally mutilated, and in India, girls suffer from female infanticide due to insufficient dowry payment.  These actions are unlawful against women and the whole of humanity. Sex-selective abortion is another major issue of gender inequality as it fuels human trafficking, demographic imbalance, and sexual exploitation. India and China both still maintain the preference of male over female births. But nonetheless, sex-selection is a violation of the right to life and has distorted the natural sex ratios of 50/50 in countries in which it is practiced. But even though national and international measures are at work, as China, Saudi Arabia, and India have women's rights groups and are trying to make incentives for families to have and keep their female children, these efforts are not sufficient to minimize and eliminate gender inequality completely. From an economic viewpoint, gender discrimination is a major impediment to growth as it prevents countries from reaching their maximum productivity potential. Although women constitute only 40% of the global work force, there are still many who are unpaid family workers in the informal sector. Women are often paid less, receive less promotion, receive less education, and have less job opportunity. Thus, many countries experience loss of productivity that amounts to 25% due to gender discrimination. Gender inequality also has severe individual and societal losses for a nation. Only 14 of the 200 governments are headed by females. An adjustment of this inequitable representation can drastically help global gender inequality. To further promote gender equality however, there needs to be  an increase in education for women, improvements in public health, more child care facilities, and availing women equal voice in cultural, social, economic and political spheres of public life. Without equal representation of women's voice in policy-making and institutions, decisions are often more advantageous for men. But gender discrimination is rooted in history, tradition and culture and brings down women's sense of worth and dignity. The remedy would take the collaboration of all nations in order to shift the attitude and mindset of the population in favor of gender equality.

            Gender inequality is something that is such a vast problem in many countries around the world yet at the same time something that seems to be so embedded within societies that it is just another accepted part of everyday life, or "just the way things are." But this article on world gender inequality shows how this is a major social issue that needs to be addressed as it affects many aspects of life for all. Within most societies today, the social stratification of women based on gender still strongly exists. Women such as in the mentioned countries of China and India are not valued and are given less rewards than men. Women often receive less power, prestige, wealth, and privilege than men. They are not given the same opportunities to succeed in life. The way that people are socialized to view and treat women is often a major issue in how women are themselves treated. As many societies are socialized to view women as unnecessary and weak, even to the point of killing them, this only creates a vicious cycle of the inequality of women. Gender inequality often being embedded in the culture, tradition, and history of a society, makes gender discrimination seem only that much more acceptable and not a social issue that needs to be addressed. Women are considered to have their specific gender roles and men considered to have their own gender roles. But with men being the "providers" and caretakers of most families, they are usually considered to have a more valuable role. Therefore, men are often given the opportunity to receive an education over women as well, giving women even  more of a disadvantage. Within the realm of gender, women are definitely the ones who lack power within the stratified social order. But as gender, like race, is a social construct made by societies themselves, then why must so much emphasis be put on it? As in the cases of China, India, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Guatemala, and Pakistan, the violence, honor killing, infanticide, rape, and genital mutilation that these women suffer from and endure is not socially just at all and it can be hard to wrap one's mind around as to why these things would be considered as acceptable. If gender inequality actually causes more problems such as impeding economic growth and creating severe individual and societal losses for a nation, then shouldn't efforts be made to give women more equality? Thus, drastic changes would definitely need to take place in order to change people's mindsets on gender. In order to grant women gender equality, more nations are going to need to open up and use their sociological imaginations to see this problem as a serious social issue and not as a mere personal problem and then, mobilize for action in order to actually change the reality of it. Women are going to need an equal voice and representation within society in order to really gain the social equality that they deserve.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nake-m-kamrany/gender-inequality_b_1417535.html

Blog #11: Moroccan teenager's death puts focus on women's rights

                Morocco has been under growing pressure to better protect women’s rights after a man who was allowed to marry a 16 year old girl who he allegedly raped was invited by a newspaper to join a discussion on improving women’s rights. The man however, did not attend the meeting concerning the girl, Amina Filali, who killed herself after the court ordered the marriage. The meeting was organized by Morocco’s leading daily newspaper which had invited the country’s only female minister. Moroccan human rights groups however, criticized the man’s invitation as they felt it was further evidence of the impotence of the state and of the government system. The president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights feels that the man should not have been invited, should not be free, and that the whole justice system should be blamed since he is not facing any sanctions. The man denied raping or forcing Amina into marriage. However, in 2010, more than 41,000 marriages in Morocco involved female minors, up 25% from the previous year. But this case has drawn attention to a provision of Moroccan criminal law, clause 475 which has become one in the same with the battle for women’s rights. The law states that if a minor and her abductor agree to marry, then any prosecution can be dropped and can only be resumed if the marriage is annulled. Experts say that the law only applies to nonviolent abduction or corruption of a minor. But a Moroccan lawyer specializing in criminal law states that the clause 475 does not provide for a rapist to marry his victim but that it “It forbids the abduction of minors and provides for cases where a girl has run away with a man – without the threat of violence or deceit – and where she has married him, then he can avoid prosecution." This case has provoked many protests throughout Morocco. Activists have criticized the only female minister in Morocco for saying that “the law will not be changed simply because of pressure from international public opinion.” One journalist remarked on how shocking it was to see so many women protesting on the streets for Amina and how in Morocco, there is no law against domestic violence, there is a penalization of sex outside marriage, which means that a rape victim risks prosecution if her rapist convinces the court the sex was consensual, and there is the clause 475, all lacking in the effort to protect women from domestic violence. The status of women in Morocco is complex as in some cities, attitudes toward women is more liberal while in other cities, their views are still very conservative. However, “a new family code, the moudawana which was adopted in 2004, was designed to give more rights to women, and the 2011 constitution provides for ‘men and women to enjoy equally the same civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and freedom.’” But the moudawana being created to give more rights to women is not the answer to all their problems as the law is not fair from the get go. Morocco still consists of repressive social customs and mores and the judiciary still insists on medical evidence for rape and domestic violence victims, not considering their testimonies. The Moroccan government defended the judge in Amina’s case and her husband has had no sanctions taken against him. But there is a lot of concern about the status of women in Morocco as Amina is not the only woman who has killed herself after being forced to get married.

                Women continue to be stratified based on their gender as can be seen in Morocco. These women have such little power, prestige, and privilege in this country that even rape victims are not receiving justice and their perpetrators are getting away with it without being sanctioned for their actions. Men within this society receive more rewards than the women as they inherently have the control and men are also the dominant group within this society while the women are the minority group, lacking the most power in this socially stratified society. But for the Moroccan culture, men have been socialized to be the dominant ones, with their social role being one that includes aggression and force, while the women have been socialized to be the weaker ones, being gentle and obedient. Women are often taught to simply be obedient and not speak out, for the ones who do, suffer from the consequences. But this, being a social norm for Morocco and many countries within the world, is not viewed by many as something that needs to change as it is not violating any norm. However, after the incident of Amina’s suicide, many of Morocco’s citizens began to see the how the norms of women’s rights were being violated and thus began to recognize that sanctions needed to be carried out for these problems. Many Moroccans began to go on strike and mobilize for action in order to try and raise awareness of the lack of women’s rights in their country and the consequences that innocent women are suffering due to this. Perhaps the punishment rationale of incapacitation should be enforced more strongly in Morocco in order to limit the ability to harm again, or at least some form of punishment rationale be enforced in order to try and give the women more equality and justice. The inequality of women around the globe has become a major social issue as many have recognized the harm that it causes. But with the idea of gender also being a mere social construct, why must so much emphasis be put on it? Morocco, among many other countries, would need to reconstruct their ideas about gender in order to give women social equality. The fact that women are being raped and forced into marriages, and their only way out being suicide, is a social problem that needs more social action taken against it, and something that needs to be changed. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/03/moroccan-teenager-death-women-rights

               

Blog #10: Moral ‘Crimes’ Land Afghan Women in Jail

                In Kabul, Afghanistan, many women are being put in jail for “moral” crimes. There are many horrifying stories of Afghani women who are persecuted for things that should not even be considered as crimes in the first place. Asma ran away from her husband who beat her, threw boiling water on her, gave her an STD, and announced that he would marry his mistress. Fawzia, took refuge with a family that drugged her and forced her into prostitution. Farah fell in love with her friend’s boyfriend and eloped with him. And Gulpari was kidnapped off the street by a stalker who decided he wanted to marry her and she turned him into the first policeman that she saw. However, all of these women and girls were jailed, as hundreds of Afghani women have been, for being convicted of these “moral” crimes. But the testimonies of their own abusers are what are landing them in jail. These women were involved in the case studies done by the Human Rights Watch, which had interviewed 58 girls and women who were in prison and who often had been convicted of crimes that most other countries would not consider as crimes. Many of these women were simply convicted for running away in which is not even considered as a crime under the Afghan penal code. The Human Rights Watch has called on the Afghan government to release 400 women under these same accusations. One girl was separated from her brother in a crowd and was therefore accused of having sex outside of marriage, considered a crime in Afghanistan. However, even after a test that proved she was still a virgin, she was still accused of running away and jailed anyway. Afghanistan’s model new legislation to protect women, the Law on the Elimination of Violence against women has done little to stop traditional practices such as baad, the giving away of daughters to settle family scores, violent abuse by relatives, and forced and under-age marriages. Many of the women interviewed were victims of acts criminalized under this law however; it is not the ones committing the crimes that are being persecuted but the victims. One woman was stabbed with a screw driver all over her body but her husband was not prosecuted because she didn’t die. The women fleeing the abuse are incarcerated and the men responsible for this flight are not prosecuted. The president issued a decree stating that women who fled their homes to marry someone of their choice would be pardoned but then he also signed a declaration from the strict and religious Ulema Council in which harms women’s rights. This council stated that women were secondary to men, should never travel without male chaperons and should neither work nor study if it meant mixing with men. Even 10 years after the fall of the Taliban, many women still face a lot of injustice. However, the Human Rights Watch’s director is optimistic and feels that they might be able to end this particular persecution of women victims.

                The unjust persecution of these women in Afghanistan is a major social issue. These women, as many women throughout the world, are stratified based on their gender. They have less power, wealth, and prestige than the men and so thus, are often treated badly and abused. However, the people in Afghanistan, as well as in many other countries, are socialized to think that each gender is supposed to behave in a certain way and that women are to be subordinate to men. Women and men are each considered to have their specific assigned gender roles and as in the case of Afghanistan, if women are to break out of their traditional gender role, then they are persecuted for it. It is as if men are the majority and dominant group and the women are the minority that lacks power within the stratified social order. Women are not treated as equals and oftentimes do not receive just treatment. When it comes to women being abused and faced with violence, there is a desperate need for social action. The mobilization for action by the Human Rights Watch group is a positive attempt to change the behaviors, actions, and attitudes of the Afghani people and their government. Even though this culture may often feel that they have to stick with “tradition,” the change that the Human Rights Watch group is fighting for is a just and much needed social change. The people of Afghanistan and throughout the entire world need to open up their minds and use their sociological imagination to see how this problem is a big social issue affecting many rather than just a personal issue that they should just have to face on their own. Without the interference and action taken by others, the women of Afghanistan will never have justice and will only continue to be stratified and treated unequally simply because of their gender. Yet if gender is a mere social construct, then why do we continue to place so much emphasis on it? What is socially constructed is not set in stone but something that has been created by society. Thus, this social construct of gender in Afghanistan that puts women beneath men can be changed in order to bring the social justice that these women, for being wrongly persecuted for the “moral” crimes that they are accused of, deserve. For this social issue has begun to spiral out of control and needs as much mobilization for action as possible to change this social injustice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/world/asia/report-finds-continued-jailing-for-afghan-girls-running-from-abuse.html?_r=2&ref=world

Blog #9: South Sudan's dreams slipping away already

            South Sudan's hopes and dreams are slipping away as residents now only see corruption and an uncaring government. People such as Davidka Clement made the trek from their villages to Juba, South Sudan after hearing that South Sudan, which had fought for decades for its independence from Sudan, would become an independent country with its own leaders, who would care about people like her. However, when the country of South Sudan became a reality, despite much celebration, it did not change the circumstances for poor women such as Davidka. She is only one out of many among the pebble women of Rock City. These women tap rocks together in order to break them down into piles of pebbles to then be sold to a nearby quarry, where people buy gravel by the truckload for road building and construction. It takes a whole 10 days to be able to make a pile that is 10 feet high and there are many sellers in Rock City with few buyers. People like Clement only make about $1 per day. She states "There's nothing." "What do you do? You just come and do your work. I go home, my body is in pain. I cry, but I come back." The freedom that she and others had hoped for was not supposed to be like this. Having been long marginalized by the Sudanese government, the southern part of the country was one of the most destitute and least developed places on the Earth. However, last year's peaceful succession sparked a surge of hope among the South Sudanese. They felt that with their own flag, oil, and government, they would be able to build a decent country.  But the government has taken the path of many other rebels turned leaders. Corruption and nepotism are common, public services are negligible, and there is more demolition than reconstruction.  The government recently suspended oil production in which accounts for 98% of its revenue, due to a dispute with Sudan. The joy of independence has vanished as only a strict economy remains. Poor people came to the city in hopes that the government was going to help them but the government doesn't want to help. Promise of a better life in Juba, due to South Sudan's oil money, also drew thousands of Kenyans and Ugandans. But hospitals, schools, and medical clinics are scarce, and the ones that are around are scruffy and grim. Private clinics are trying to make it, but even they are struggling to make ends meet. There are costs of basic services such as water and electricity that the government doesn't provide. Further deteriorating conditions and corruption are serious problems. The management has failed as they have taken oil for personal benefit and some politicians have millions while others have nothing. The government is also demolishing the shops of poor shopkeepers in order to make "improvements." However, many of these shopkeepers worry if they will ever get their land back. People such as Clement just wish that the government would look at them as someone who is poor and offer them work so that they can survive.    

            The poor and disadvantaged in South Sudan are facing vast social inequalities. The poor are marginalized and socially stratified based on their low social class and lack of power, wealth, and prestige. It is the corrupt government and elite that profit and have millions while others continue to have nothing. But poverty is a social problem that the majority of the world’s population has to face as 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day and with people such as Davidka Clement living on even less than that, earning only a $1 a day. Poverty is a social problem that has an objective element as it can be measured and is also a subjective idea as it is experienced, felt, and lived through. The poor living in Sudan are experiencing and living through extreme conditions just to survive as their government has become completely corrupted. The poor within the country of South Sudan are kept poor because the rich and corrupt government is making them so. The government is causing the poor to have to be dependent. This inherent system of stratification in South Sudan is causing their society to have unfair divisions between the poor and the elite. Within the article, Davidka had also noted that she had been working since she was a child and like most girls in her village, she did not attend school. This shows how based on gender, people within South Sudan are stratified as well. Women are less likely to attend school and they are more likely to have to work under poor conditions, remaining poor. This can also be an example of the feminization of poverty as the majority of the world’s impoverished people are women and children. The women of South Sudan, especially the rock working women are an example of how impoverished some of the women in this country actually are. But these impoverished people of South Sudan have no control over their situation as it is the powerful elite that control the political, economic, cultural, and social institutions of their society. Thus, some serious social changes need to be made in the South Sudanese society to help the poor to better survive. Many countries need mobilization for action to try and fight against this social injustice as class stratification has become a serious social issue in many countries around the world.   

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-south-sudan-rock-city-20120322,0,6044263.story?page=1&utm_medium=feed&track=rss&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fworld%20%28L.A.%20Times%20-%20World%20News%29&utm_source=feedburner

Blog #8: Syrian Christians worry about life after Bashar Assad

               In Syria, Christian's are now worried about how their lives will be like if the current President Bashar Assad falls. But life for Christians is still not what is used to be. At night, people such as Um Michael can hear the echoes of fighting near their homes in Bab Touma, in the centuries old Christian quarter of Damascus. Many Christians are now concerned as to whether Syria's increasingly bloody yearlong uprising could end the security that has been provided by President Assad's autocratic and secular government. Assad has represented himself as a defender of the nation's religious minorities against the foreign-backed Islamic extremists. But some feel that he has intentionally used sectarian fear in order for him to be able to stay in power. Christians fear that a bloodbath could take place if Assad leaves office as they have watched their brethren be driven away by sectarian violence within the past years. Many fear revenge attacks against the minorities, for supporting four decades of repressive rule by Assad, and the emergence of a new dictatorship by the Sunni Muslim majority. Civilians feel that if the regime goes, then so will Christians. The Christians in Iraq had to flee and their churches were bombed and attacked. In the city of Homs, Sunnis, Christians, and the Alawite community, a small denomination of Shiite Islam, have fallen victim to kidnappings and killings, worrying Christians that a civil war could break out. The rise of Islamist parties in Egypt and Tunisia is also adding to the fear among Syrian Christians that they are under siege. Demonstrations take place every week after Muslims' Friday prayers as antigovernment protesters pour out of mosques while chanting religious and political slogans. One Christian stated that "Of course the 'Arab Spring' is an Islamist movement. It's full of extremists. They want to destroy our country and they call it a 'revolution.'" Syrian Christians represent a mere 10% of Syria's population but trace their roots to the beginnings of the faith when the Apostle Paul converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus. Church leaders are backing Assad in hopes that he will enact political reforms to end the violence in which has killed more than 7,500 people from both sides. However, the priest feels that Assad did not protect minorities but protected himself. It is thought that the government is playing a sectarian card and causing the deepening sectarian divide. Yet it seems that the country is headed for a civil war as people have been worried about the repression of the government but now are worried about the killing and the regime like ways of the opposition leaders, in the end, feeling that the best solution is for the government to stay.

                The religious conflict in Syria represents the inequalities that many people face within our world today due to their religious faith. People such as the Syrians are treated unfairly and attacked and killed simply for being Christians. Religious diversity has a tremendous power to be able to fuel violence. A major problem that Syria is facing is that there is a large push-and-pull of mobilization for action and counter-mobilization for action as the opposition between those who support the secular government and its efforts to keep minorities from being attacked and those who oppose the government feeling that it is only repressive endure and continue to conflict. Thus, Christians in Syria are socially stratified as they have less power and prestige than their fellow Muslim majority. But as religion can also be seen as a social construct and something that is merely created by differing cultures and societies, then the perception of religious differences should not be such a powerful social force and cause so many differences and conflicts as it does today. But with religion being so much embedded into everyday life and interaction, it classifies people as either superior or inferior based on their position as a minority religious group or a majority religious group based on the setting of the environment in which they are in. The group that is considered to be the minority is going to be submitted to a vast amount of prejudice and discrimination. And with many religious groups being ethnocentric, feeling that their own group of religious beliefs are superior to others, only creates less understanding as well. This has been the case in Syria as there have been many conflicts between the Sunni majority group and the minority groups such as the Christians, the Christians and the Muslims only feeling that each is against each other. Consequently, this ever increasing conflict of religious differences such as that between the Muslims and Christians in Syria is only a growing conflict within many countries throughout the world, as religious tensions continue to increase. Thus, this problem has grown into a large social issue as a vast number of people suffer from religious inequalities and it is only going to continue to worsen if societies don't start using their sociological imaginations to see the bigger picture and try come up with a solution.   

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-christians-20120307,0,4802686.story?page=1 

Blog #7: Resentment Toward the West Bolsters Uganda’s New Anti-Gay Bill

In Uganda, many people hold views that are against homosexuality. Thus, in 2009, a Ugandan lawmaker introduced a bill that would carry the death penalty for any offender guilty of homosexuality. However, the bill failed due to the international criticism that it received and the control that rich nations have over poor nations such as Uganda. But the bill was reintroduced this month and part of its fueling is a bitter contempt for Western diplomacy. The author of the bill wants to force the Western world to stop giving money to Uganda. However, the Obama administration said it would use diplomatic tools to promote equal rights for the LGBTQ community. But African nations have reacted bitterly to these new dictates of engagement, comparing it to neo-colonialism. Antigovernment demonstrations have broken out and most people agree that homosexuality is not tolerated and that Westerners are often overbearing. The American government is remaining opposed to the bill however, and is trying to lobby Uganda against the bill as well. This bill would include the death penalty of anyone who is homosexual and requires that known acts of homosexuality be reported to police within 24 hours however these elements have been pressured to be taken out. But overpressure can be counterproductive. Yet the government of President Museveni has allowed for the bill to be debated in Parliament and feels that that the cultural attitudes in Africa are different than Western ideas. With the society of Uganda being very religious and traditional, the tensions between advocates and opponents remain high. In the past, homosexuals were stoned to death or shot and within the past year, a newspaper published a list of gay people in Uganda and urged people to hang them. American evangelical Christians have played a role in stirring up anti-homosexual sentiment in Uganda that led to the bill. But the few gay rights advocates working in Uganda have had their support widen as well as received much recognition.  But the new bill would prohibit organizations working for gay rights in Uganda. However the author of the bill, Mr. Bahati, feels that the bill will be passed if not now, then at least at some point in the future.

The social issue of gay rights is seen around the world as well as in Uganda. Since the majority of societies in the world are stratified based on gender, they are also stratified based on sexual orientation. Those who chose a homosexual lifestyle are given less power, wealth, and prestige than those who chose to be heterosexual.  Those who are homosexual often are discriminated against, and do not receive the same rights and treatment as those who are heterosexual. Religious institutions are often the ones to show resistance to homosexuality, feeling that it is a sin and since Uganda is a conservative and religious country, they have a lot of religious influence and resistance to homosexuality as well. However, there has been a significant gay rights movement in Uganda as organizations have been mobilizing for action. But many organizations in Uganda, even the government, have been mobilizing for counter-action, trying to pass a bill to completely take away all of rights of homosexuals within this country. Yet in most countries throughout the world, people are stratified based on their sexual orientation.  But as most would look at this issue as a mere personal trouble for those who suffer from homosexual discrimination need to use their sociological imagination to see the bigger picture in how the issue of homosexual inequality is a larger social issue. With Uganda wanting a bill that would allow for the killing of homosexuals simply for being homosexual would be a violation of human rights as well.  Yet the stigma that surrounds the idea of homosexuality causes for many of the biased views that people continue to have. Thus, due to the way people were socialized about homosexuality, many anti-gay social attitudes and extreme bills that support these attitudes continue to exist in Uganda as well as many other countries. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/world/africa/ugandan-lawmakers-push-anti-homosexuality-bill-again.html?pagewanted=1&ref=africa

Blog #6: For Woman in Sudan, No Escape From Misery

          Women in Sudan are facing and suffering from many inequalities due to the confrontational division of Sudan into Sudan and South Sudan. For many women in Sudan, there is no escape from misery. Mary Nyekueh Ley describes her life as being a curse. Her first husband died in battle and her second husband beat her. Two of her children also died from the simple disease of diarrhea. And now, Mary is a southern conspicuous dark skinned outsider in a northern land simply trying to raise her children (paragraph 5). But what makes her situation worse is that the only marketing skill that she has is making homebrewed alcohol which is a serious crime in Islamist Sudan. This has led her to be put in jail and beaten many times. Even though Mrs. Ley’s situation is extreme, it is not uncommon as hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese who have lived in the north are now dealing with the conflict between the two worlds of the north and south. It was in July, after decades of an underdog guerrilla struggle that South Sudan broke off from Sudan, forming its own nation (paragraph 8). Many southerners were ecstatic but those living in the north, have only suffered and toiled due to the breaking of the border. Due to the hostility between the two sides, another major conflict could break out at any moment and cause more struggles for outsiders living on the wrong side. The Sudanese government is going to begin stripping all southerners of their citizenship, forcing them to apply for a visa if they wish to remain in Sudan. However, for people such as Mrs.Ley, who face the inequalities of illiteracy and poverty, this will prove to be very difficult. Even if someone was born in the north but have southern ethnic ties, they will be considered as a southerner. Hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese have had to relocate due to the conflict. But many Southern Sudanese are still at risk of being killed and South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world; a 15 year old girl has a greater chance of dying in childbirth than finishing school. Mrs. Ley struggles to feed her children and struggles to afford to send them to school, the uprising between Sudan and South Sudan causing added strife, poverty, and inequalities for many women and children throughout Sudan.

          Most of Sudan’s population is facing a vast amount of social inequalities due to the state of division and conflict that the country is currently in. The social inequality of poverty is rampant within Sudan, especially among women. Women are faced with more poverty as their husbands leave them to fight in the war and they are left as the sole providers for their families. Therefore, they suffer from the effects of the feminization of poverty, with women and children being most at risk of falling into poverty. Many women also end up having to take up a “second shift,” having to take care of the home and provide financially for their families, like Mrs.Ley and many other women in Sudan have had to do. And also, as the book mentions, women continue to be victims of violence, sexual exploitation, and discrimination. Especially during war conflicts, women face greater inequalities as they are often raped and beaten. Women also have a lesser chance of receiving an education since they are more likely to have children and be at risk for dying than to be able to go to school and receive an education. Therefore, the inequality and stratification of women based on their gender is another social issue that Sudan faces. Women are not treated equally and do not have the same opportunities to gain power, wealth, and prestige as they are often taken advantage of by men. The social inequality of race/ethnicity can also be considered to be a problem for the Sudanese people considering how Mrs. Ley was considered as a dark-skinned outsider, her being from a different part of Sudan and being darker, thus, causing her to be looked upon and treated differently because of it. Sudan is divided into Sudan and South Sudan, partially based on race and ethnicity as well as based on religious divisions and an exploitative government. Sudan therefore has many social inequalities that its people have to face on a daily basis whether it is due to race, gender, religion, education, or poverty. The people of Sudan are stratified on many different social levels, with women being the most stratified on all levels. Thus, the social problems facing Sudan are not merely personal troubles of the people within this particular country but are social issues for everyone considering how many of these same issues exist in many other countries around the world. Mobilization for action will need to be taken in order to address and change the social inequalities faced by Sudan as well as other countries. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/world/africa/for-south-sudan-woman-misery-on-both-sides-of-the-border.html?_r=2&ref=africa