Rape and Abortion: Unveiling the Ethical Dilemma

By Silvia

In this essay, I will be demonstrating how rape is being demised as a hidden secret in foreign countries and how malnutrition has grown in Africa, and how politics are involved in both issues.

Rape in Pakistan and Iraq

The first issue I will be talking about is rape, and rape is something that can affect a person, women especially: Physically, mentally, and spiritually, Through marriages, friends, or colleagues. Rape is defined as having sexual intercourse with a person without their consent.

In the U.S., rape is not as big of an issue because of many brave young and older women speaking against it because of the Me Too movement. But as we are lucky to have support, foreign young and older women are not as lucky. Take, for example, an article called “Pakistan confronts its me-too movement and its backlash.” This article states that a “woman who has suffered rape in Pakistan should not report the incident, and those who report are shamed or questioned about their morals.”

This is shameful on behalf of the government, which is supposed to help and protect their people. The article continues describing a woman named Shafi, who had always shown on televised T.V., telling women of Pakistan to stand up.” Even when she was faced with comments from those who feared their jobs and lives. But still, she encouraged them anyways, responding to them on Twitter “it is only scary till you say it.”

Many Pakistani women fear the repercussions that may occur from speaking out, but I think it is necessary for those who are willing to speak out, like Shafi, to encourage those who fear losing everything for what their consciousness tells them is right. Their voices need to be heard, no matter the consequences.

Iraq

There is another article that is quite horrific about how it is Islamic law in Iraq that it is appropriate for a young child or adolescent to be sold as a slave and raped. Now the article also hinted that the Islamic State men would give the young girls pills (birth control) every month to make sure they wouldn’t have the man’s baby. The men believed that the prophet Mohammed did this, and during Mohammed, fighters would not only rape these young women but also sell off young women to other men to be raped again and given more birth control.

In one interview, a woman who was raped once during these slave trades was driven to the hospital to check if she was pregnant with his child. The woman wanted the baby, but he didn’t, forcing her to have an abortion. An abortion never happened, and the young woman had a healthy baby boy.

Given whichever circumstance had happened, Islamic law or not, the slave trade should never have happened in the first place, and I wonder if the Iraq government cares about their people. The government of Iraq should be doing more to help these women, even if they are sold off. We are human beings, female or male, and need to be treated equally, not harassed, humiliated, shamed, guilty, or raped.

This article was written in 2017, but the documentation of the interviews happened in 2014. So, this is recent and is probably still going on. From what is televised on T.V. by president trump that, ISIS is defeated, this article is proof that they are not. More and more women are raped in Iraq, and no one is standing up for them unless smuggled in by those who are willing to help. We are human beings, female or male, and need to be treated equally, not harassed, humiliated, shamed, guilty, or raped.

We are so blessed here in the U.S. to have the freedom to choose our religion but also to speak freely about issues that are troubling to anyone. Without freedom of religion and the right to speak freely, there wouldn’t be a democracy.

Malnutrition in Africa

The second issue I will be talking about is malnutrition and how it is worsening in many countries in Africa. Malnutrition is rising in Africa, meaning that many people lack the nutrients needed to survive. Some even starve to feed their families or have food, but not enough to satisfy their stomachs.

The foreign parts that were recorded in the two articles that I chose were in: South Africa, Lesotho, Africa, Ghana, and Gabon. The first article, titled “M.P.s urged to use their legislative mandate to address malnutrition in Africa,” did a national survey in these locations and found that “47 countries in Africa had a total of 58 million children who had stunted growth, or they were overweight or obese. The highest percentage of children who had stunted growth or were overweight or obese were found in Lesotho, Ghana, and Gabon.”

The article says that even though there is malnutrition in these 47 countries in Africa, there is silent legislation being done in governments around Africa that are trying to help with this issue. Hunger and malnutrition are still two issues continually problems in Africa. Although the IPU, NEPAD, Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF have addressed this legislation to be funded and helped, it will take time until 2025 for the legislation to pass and finally fix this problem.

In my opinion, this will be too long of a wait for legislation to be passed. The longer the governments wait to make a change, the more and more people in Africa will be malnourished. Malnutrition has affected so many foreign countries for as long as I can remember, so why is it that it is just brought to light by politicians? So many problems will happen with malnutrition, and it will just get worse if they don’t fix this issue.

My claim can be backed up by another article called “Worst forms of malnutrition highest in Africa – Report.” This article says that “30 out of 41 countries are struggling with childhood stunting, anemia in women during pregnancy, and overweight among women in Africa.” Some improvement, though, has shown that the number of children with stunted growth has lessened from “36 out of every 100 children in Africa”. So that is a substantial improvement taken out of the 58 million children who were malnourished in Africa. There is still a long way to go, but it is a start.

This article was published on 30 Nov. 2018; the previous article, titled: “M.P.s urged to use their legislative mandate to address malnutrition in Africa,” was published on 8 Mar. 2018. Even though there is a slight change in the number of kids who have stunted growth, it will not mean that number will remain that way. There needs to be actual change before anything can get better in order to see actual proof that Africa’s people are well-nurtured, especially the children and those women who are pregnant.

In this essay, I’ve talked about two critical issues that affect many people all over the world, but mainly in the foreign poor countries. Those two issues are rape and malnutrition. In the first two essays, the main issue was rape, which continuously happens in both Pakistan and Iraq. In comparison, the other two articles talked about malnutrition.

In Pakistan, many women are afraid to say something to authorities because when they do, they were questioned about their morals or are shamed by others. But a new change is happening in Pakistan, and even though a small group of women is speaking up, hoping that will spark a movement that will change the minds of many.

In Iraq, there is ISIS, which takes young girls and women to hospitals to be traded to state men to be sold as slaves and raped. These women and girls do not have a higher power that will be their voice and is not encouraged to voice their opinion for fear that they will face repercussions in the end. Just because someone can do something to young children and women because Islamic law does not ban it does not mean it is right. Just like when a child lies to their parents about doing a terrible thing without them knowing, and they find out and get in trouble for it. Rape may be a bigger issue than lying, but both can example can lead to bigger consequences.

I feel very discouraged hearing this because if that happened to any female in the U.S., there would be protests and rape kits available to those who need them. It would be a big deal, and because of the me-to movement, it has become something of a worldwide phenomenon that still hasn’t reached Iraq yet. My political view in both articles is that no matter where the person is, no matter the crime, big or small, there will be consequences if people just speak up.

In Africa, Malnutrition is rampant. Because of malnourishment in Africa, there are more anemic women and pregnant women who are not getting enough nutrients to give birth to a healthy child. Saying this, there needs to be more done to help those 30 out of the 41 countries in Africa who are malnourished to pass the legislation that gives more growth in agricultural development. Meaning that more food is grown and that funding is established sooner than 2025. By doing this, it will help with some of the problems going on in Africa.

References

1. Callimuchi, Rukmini. “ISIS System of Rape Relies on Birth Control.” ISIS System of Rape Relies on Birth Control, 1 Jan. 2017.
2. Inyuat, Nialia. “Pakistan Confronts Its Me To Movement – and Backlash.” Pakistan Confronts Me To Movement – and Backlash, 20 May 2018.
3. Kampala. “M.P.’s Urged to Use Legislative Mandate to Address Malnutrition in Africa.” M.P.’s Urges to Use Legislative Mandate to Address Malnutrition in Africa, 8 Mar. 2018.
4. Abuja. “Worst Forms of Malnutrition.” Worst Forms of Malnutrition, 30 Nov. 2018.

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