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Posted 8:47 PM
by Mary
The Pakistani government is trying to silence human rights defender Mukhtar Mai, whose courage and refusal to be silenced has increased international attention to abuses against women in Pakistan.
In 2002, Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped on orders of a traditional village council as punishment for acts allegedly committed by her younger brother. She courageously testified in court against the men responsible for her rape and, using compensation money, built schools for girls and boys and started a shelter for abused women. She has emerged as a powerful symbol of the brutality and blatant inequality of the justice administered by tribal councils in rural Pakistan.
Earlier this month, Mukhtar Mai was put on Pakistan's "exit control list," notorious for preventing government critics from leaving the country, in response to her plans to speak about her experiences in the United States. On Thursday June 9, Mukhtar Mai was placed under strict police watch and prevented from leaving her home, and was later taken to an undisclosed location by government officials.
At a June 14 press conference, a government representative announced that restrictions on Mukhtar Mai's movement would be lifted, but that a police squad would accompany her for her own protection. She tearfully told Pakistani human rights activists that she had faced significant pressure from the Pakistani government to sign a letter withdrawing her visa application to the United States.
Human Rights First condemns the silencing of Mukhtar Mai. Join us in taking action to demand that Mukhtar Mai's rights are protected, and that she be free to travel to speak about her experiences.
lick Here to Take Action: humanrightsfirst.org
Posted 9:03 AM
by Mary
Abstinence-Only Sex Education Embeds Religious Ideas in Public Schools:
Speak Out Against Federally Funded Misinformation and Religious Bias
Sign the American Humanist Association's Humanist Statement on Sexuality.
BACKGROUND
Now taught in nearly a third of public schools, abstinence-only (or
abstinence-only-until-marriage) sex education is deeply rooted in
fundamentalist Christian ideology. As Humanists, we must do all we can to
prevent this religious-based curriculum from being taught in public schools. As
the Humanist Statement on Sexuality states, "sex education programs in public
schools should reflect our shared ethical values-not the sectarian values of
any one particular group."
Abstinence-only education as we know it first came into effect in 1996 as part
of "welfare reform." President Bush now requests $270 million in federal funds
to be allocated to funding the abstinence-only program, on top of the initial
$10 million per state per year that was part of the original five-year plan.
The Religious Right has the President's ear, and Bush speaks of abstinence as a
matter of "conscience" for young Americans; this kind of attitude-which
pervades abstinence-only education-presents sexual activity not as a choice
about maturity and health but as one about morality.
The abstinence-only education program taught in public schools holds as one of
its core tenets "that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the
context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity."
Statements such as this one presuppose a religion-based idea of sexual morality
that is both out of line with the current reality and with the personal values
of many Americans: it has no place in our public schools.
Furthermore, abstinence-only curricula perpetuate male/female stereotypes and
heteronormativity, and present simplistic explanations of human biology. Unlike
comprehensive sex education programs that have been shown to encourage teens to
delay sexual activity and to use protection, abstinence-only sex education does
little to lower pregnancy rates and has been shown to lead to greater exposure
to sexually transmitted diseases.
The advocates of abstinence-only programs are attempting to use public schools
as a venue for promoting the fundamentalist Christian message at the expense of
all others. We as Humanists should not stand by and allow this to take place.
ACTION
It is essential that we reinstate comprehensive sex education and get this
fundamentalist message out of public schools.
Speak out against abstinence-only programs that endanger the health of
America's youth: sign the AHA's Statement on Sexuality. Go to
AHA signon
