Here\u2019s the story: Fatima, who is 26, was raised in a \u201cstrict Islamic family\u201d in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Her stepfather allegedly raped her continuously from the ages of 15-19. She was allegedly advised by Pearl, an online American chat buddy, to tell someone. She told her aunt, who allegedly took her to a lawyer, who allegedly told her that \u201cunder Shar\u2019iah law\u201d she would be subject to lashes for committing \u201cadultery.\u201d She told her mother, who allegedly confronted the stepfather, who said he did it \u201cto make Fatima feel better and that it was all out of love.\u201d Her mother thought about divorcing him, but changed her mind, choosing to stay with him. Fatima then left her family for America, land of the brave, where she was granted asylum:<\/p>\n
Fatima says she realised that what mattered most, in the eyes of society, was family honour and what other people would think of them [\u2026] Fatima says that she thought that her Muslim country would protect her as a woman, but that in the end, they protected her rapist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
To begin with, did you realize how many times I used the word \u201callegedly?\u201d This story is one of the worst<\/em> researched stories I have ever had the bad luck to come across. There are no quotes from Fatima\u2019s lawyer, her family, Abu Dhabi police, and no hint that any of them were even approached for interviews. But since it\u2019s a Muslim woman outing her \u201cMuslim oppressors,\u201d I guess we don\u2019t need any further information.<\/p>\n
Domestic abuse is a terrible reality that can happen anywhere and any time, no matter what religion, nationality or ethnicity you are. It is present in every community. The criminal is the person who committed the crime\u2013in this case, her stepfather. These criminals bend social and religious values to normalize their crime; society and tradition can then help to conceal the crime. That means we have some serious house-cleaning to do, and that domestic abuse laws in some predominately Muslim countries need to be reformed, but it doesn\u2019t mean that there is something wrong with Islam.<\/p>\n
And, as we have said over and over again until we are blue in the face, this does not mean the actions are condoned by or the fault the criminal\u2019s religion, which almost never figures in the story unless the faith is Islam. This is the story of a rapist.\u00a0 But unfortunately, it turns into an attack\u2014seemingly by Fatima\u2014on a Muslim<\/em> country and Muslim<\/em> society and Muslim<\/em> ideas.<\/p>\n
The 10-minute audio file embedded in the story begins by letting us know that the first child abuse conference has taken place in Saudi Arabia. It quotes a recent study which found that in 12 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region, more than 40% of boys and 60% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 had been psychologically or sexually abused, which is a sobering fact if true.<\/p>\n
To highlight the issue, Fatima then talks us through her story, which, by the way,\u00a0 takes place in Abu Dhabi, not Saudi Arabia. Dr. Fadheela Al Mahroos, President of the Bahrain-based International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Arab Professional Network, talks about child marriages in Yemen. But you know, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Yemen, they\u2019re all the same thing in the eyes of the BBC.\u00a0 Along with the audio interview, we also get a fascinating, must-see three minute audio slideshow<\/a> of Fatima\u2019s art.<\/p>\n
Fatima\u2019s story is perfectly fits into the narrative that media constructs around Muslim women. We only ever seem to hear stories in non-Arab media about Muslim women when the women were abused\/sold\/forced into marriage, etc., or have rejected their faith and made it their life\u2019s mission to talk about why it oppresses women.<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s story about Fatima is a classic example of both kinds of stories. Fatima\u2019s story has been edited, possibly to fit the image the BBC wanted to portray. Let us count the ways:<\/p>\n
She begins by telling us that she grew up in:<\/p>\n
A conservative local Islamic family where girls are taught early on to fear God and family and more importantly to preserve family honor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Honor, she says, is more important that anything else. Then we are treated to a description of her stepfather, one even Hollywood has to applaud:<\/p>\n
He had three wives and 21 children. He was a violent man, a heavy drinker, a controlling narcissist. He blamed his sexual addiction on Satan, or the shaitan<\/em>, saying both of us were guilty and had to stay silent, all while he played the role of good Muslim.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The saddest part of this story is that Fatima herself equates what happened to her with Islam, recounting her life in a \u201cstrict Muslim family,\u201d and not in a dysfunctional family with a sex offender.<\/p>\n
Fatima mentions in her slideshow that she was trapped in her house, without going into explanations why, letting listeners assume that her \u201cMuslim family\u201d was to blame. One of her photographs, titled Window in my Room<\/em>, consists of black silhouette straining against a shut window.<\/p>\n
And though Fatima\u2019s aunt convinced her to tell her mother, the aunt dies of cancer. Three months after Fatima told her mother, she says that, \u201cfearing for my life\u201d she ran away to America. Again, there is no explanation provided of why she feared for her life. In her audio slide show, she says:<\/p>\n
In my Muslim<\/em> family, I was limited in what I could and could not do. It took me more than five years of begging and pleading with my family before they got me a camera.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We\u2019re never told why her family wouldn\u2019t allow her to have a camera; this example is only given to prove how constrictive her family life was.<\/p>\n
The story provides more predictable narratives around American involvement and Arab culture. Her American friend was the one who helped her confront her stepfather (America to the rescue, haven for all!), while her society (or, actually, some shady lawyer, if that) told her she would be sentenced for adultery if she made a fuss.<\/p>\n
Commentators across the internet differ in their outlooks towards Fatima\u2019s story. Some applaud her bravery for speaking out, while others point out the somewhat contradictory aspects of her story. If she was trapped at home, they ask, how did she learn to speak such perfect English? If she couldn\u2019t even leave the house to buy herself a camera, how could she travel to America? Others point out that she blames her society for not protecting her though she didn\u2019t even attempt to contact her authorities. Others are more disturbed by how her story feeds into common misconceptions about Muslims. One commentator notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n
[Her stepfather] blamed his sexual addiction on the so called \u201cSatan\u201d?? Puleez could there be a more cliched answer?? Everything she said is a cliche and confirms the common intentional misconception about Muslims and Arabs, from blaming \u201csins\u201d on Satan to the alleged imprisonment and \u201centrapment\u201d of women inside the house [\u2026] And then she declares that she became a free woman only upon entering America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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