Rape in Afghanistan is not seen as bad as it truly is and should be seen. According to Islamic law, a woman is not truly considered raped unless the rapper confesses to the crime or there are four men that witness the rape happen. If a woman tries to get help after being raped, and the rapper or four male witnesses don’t confess to the crime of happening, and if both the woman and rapper are married then it is considered adultery instead of a rape crime for, in the Islamic law, the woman has confessed to having sex rather than have been raped. In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, rape is a major theme throughout the book and is illustrated by how the characters would find out someone was raped and not get angry or try to seek justice …show more content…
through the law or revenge and how those who rape do not always do it to gain pleasure, but they’ll do it sometimes to humiliate the victim or just do it because they can and there will be no consequences that affect them. One does not always rape for pleasure, sometimes it is to humiliate the victim. In Hosseini’s novel a little boy character named Hassan was raped by another character named Assef not for pleasure, but to humiliate and scar Hassan for life all because Assef was bigger and Hassan refused to give up the kite that he had run for his friend Amir. During the altercation with Hassan and Assef, Amir saw what was about to happen and instead of helping or going to get help, he ran and hid until the deed was done. After the fact he played it off as if he was still looking for Hassan, when Hassan walked out of the alleyway. After months passed Amir still felt the guilt for not helping or saying anything so he became an insomniac. After even more time passed Amir hid his watch and some money under Hassan’s mattress and told his father that they were missing all in an attempt to make Hassan leave, all so Amir wouldn’t feel the guilt of what he had done. In the Novel, Hassan had told both his father and a friend of his father Rahim Khan that he was raped and neither of the men did anything to punish Assef or at least attempt to do so. Hassan’s father, after Amir planted the “stolen” items, took Hassan and said "Life here is impossible for us now, Agha sahib. We're leaving" (Hosseini 89 (pdf file)) and so he left. With Rahim Khan later in the novel, we find out that Hassan told him what had happened a few days after the fact, but he never said anything to anyone. This furthers the point that rape is not seen for as badly as it truly is because no one actually did anything against Assef after having done what he did to Hassan. Rahim Khan was not mad at Amir for not telling anyone, for he was just a child, but he said that even though Amir was a child it still didn’t make it completely right that he never told anyone. The lack of people doing anything about someone being raped is the main issue that is being addressed. Yes, rape is the most hateful and despicable thing someone can do, but not doing anything about someone being raped is even worse by far. “Under Islamic law, rape can only be proven if the rapist confesses or if there are four male witnesses. Women who allege rape without the benefit of the act having been witnessed by four men (who presumably develop a conscience afterwards) are actually confessing to having sex. If they or the accused happens to be married, then it is considered to be adultery.”(TheReligion of Peace.com) “At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012.
He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”(Goldstein). This quote here, from the New York Times journal, shows that soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are not allowed to do anything about the sexual things that they do to women and children. Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan, particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. (Goldstein) Not being able to do anything about the women and children who are being sexually abused and raped have caused some people to resign from their military positions so they will not have to feel helpless and have to deal with the fact that children and women are being raped.
In Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, rape was used as a major theme throughout the book, there were characters who raped others with no remorse after the fact, when someone found out that another was raped they did not react as they should have. In Afghanistan, today as they were in the past, still do not see rape as something that is bad. To them as long as the woman is not a Muslim is is legal. They have little to no respect for women and children and see themselves as if they can do no wrong. This is what is wrong with society today and it continues to get worse as the days go
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In 1996, Captain Derrick Robinson, Sergeant Delmar Simpson, and Sergeant Nathanael Beech were arraigned for their suspected involvement in one of the biggest sex scandals the United States Military had seen. According to CNN, between these three men, charges of rape and adultery were pending in a huge case of sexual misconduct against female soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland (CNN, 2996). Following this incident, the United States Military took it upon themselves to open a telephone hotline to encourage the reporting of similar harsh crimes. Furthermore, the spike in reporting influenced extensive research to examine the prevalence of rape against women soldiers in the U.S. Military (Titunik, 2000). This paper will explore the dynamics of rape against women soldiers in the military and the research done on its prevalence.
The way our friends treat us in the face of adversity and in social situations is more revealing of a person’s character than the way they treats us when alone. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, ethnic tensions, nationality, and betrayal become the catalyst that drives and fuels Amir, Assef, and other characters to embark on their particular acts of cruelty. Serving as a way to illustrate the loss of rectitude and humanity, cruelty reveals how easily people can lose their morals in critical circumstances. Through Amir, Assef, and the Taliban’s actions, cruelty displays the truth of a person’s character, uncovering the origin of their cruelty. Amir’s cruelty spurs from his external environment and need for love from his father, choosing
The common story from victims who report being raped, according to a Military Rape Crisis Center worker, is that they were “met with disbelief and skepticism, blamed for the crime, and disposed of one way or another,” (Kitfield). Until the military stops re-victimizing the victims it will never be able to completely eradicate rape from the ranks.
Rape is a physical attack, not sex. Rape crisis counselors and researchers define rape as an act of violence in which sex is used as a weapon (Benedict 2). A woman is raped in this country every two minutes. Between 1996 &1999 7,787,00 rapes were reported. The actual number is much, much higher because only 26% of rapes are reported. Husbands or boyfriends assaulted 28% of these women, 35% of these women were raped by people they knew; 1 in 4 of these rapes took place in a public place (Grady 4). Rape is a problem that infiltrates all countries and cultures; a Muslim woman who has been raped is disowned by her fiancé and her family for having brought them shame by becoming dirtied and thus not a candidate for marriage (Benedict 2).
In the surveys they have referenced in the article, it displays military sexual trauma increases among women during and after military deployment of unwanted sexual contact in recent years. The authors have recruited and conducted of twenty-two US servicewomen telephone interviews from May 2011 to January 2012 to participate a qualitative study with or without their MST experiences. They asked the participants questions regarding about MST during deployment and other factors which are disturbing their reporting and accessing to services against the perpetrators. The issues of sexism, high stress levels, and failed military leadership contributing factors which put these servicewomen in jeopardy of MST. Some of the interview women said that servicewomen do not report MST due to lack of support from peers, unreliable confidentiality, stigma, and other barriers. The interviewees feel more comfortable opening to medical care services after deployment in the United States that grips with sexual assault cases than throughout deployment around the world. The participants have suggested to improving the MST services: by increasing awareness, prosecution, investigation, cultural shift, and independence service providers. The interviewees recognized that Military se...
Rape is not just an action against an individual, but a violent crime that can scar a life
The military has become the epicenter for rape and abuse of women, all of which military officials have swept aside with all too little concern. Case after case of rape and sexual harassment are dismissed with little to no investigation made. The women of the military live scared of their male superiors and colleagues, and what they might do. Victims of sexual harassment or rape often see their pursuers honorably discharged and returned to society with no criminal record.
Sexual violence can happen to anyone. In fact, one out of every six women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Although, it is women who are targeted most often, it is important to understand that rape can occur to any person, regardless of various factors such as age, race, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What many people do not ponder is that most of the time when a woman is raped, she is actually blamed for the assault. As Aosved mentions in her article titled, ‘Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance’, she states
The themes of the loss of innocence and redemption is used throughout the novel The Kite Runner to make a point that one can lose innocence but never redeem it. Once innocence is lost it takes a part of oneself that can never be brought back from oblivion. One can try an entire life to redeem oneself but the part that is loss is permanently gone although the ache of it can be dampened with the passing of time and acts of attempted redemption. Khaled Hosseini uses characters, situations, and many different archetypes to make this point.
The US Military has been one of the most powerful and respected fighting forces in the world; it is also a hotbed for sexual assault. Each year, thousands of men and women take an oath to serve and protect their country and each thousands of military service members are sexually assaulted. “Earlier this week, Pentagon officials released a new report which estimated more than 70 sexual assaults occur in the military each day.”(Shane III) Fear of retaliation, both personal and professional, and humiliation stop many service members from reporting their sexual assaults. Those few that make the bold choice to report incidents of sexual assault often finds themselves disappointed by the outcome; assaults that do get reported have an incredibly low rate of conviction of the offender. The US Military has proven over time that they are incapable of effectively dealing with the sexual assault problem that it faces.
The armed forces have a lot of work to do, in general, with preventing sexual assault and acting on it in the correct way. But testimonies of brutally raped individuals show that the military’s leaders are the ones who are doing the real hurting. These commanding officers are preventing victims from getting the justice and help they deserve by either favoring the perpetrator or punishing the victim using law. In the civilian judicial courts, rapists can get years in prison while military members may only get reduced in rank. Military sexual assault cases need to be taken out of the military’s hands and put into the civilian courts where victims can get the satisfaction they deserve by putting their attackers behind bars.
Rape can happen to anyone. Women from different cultures, races, ages, and economic level are all vulnerable. It does not matter who you are or where you live, although women of lowest status are most vulnerable to rape, and so are Hispanic and African American women. (An...
Did you know that ninety-seven percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail? (RAINN) This fact is depressing considering the large percentage of rape victims. Things like rape and violence have a severe impact on the mentality level of people. Their lives will change forever after going through an intense situation such as being molested, beaten, or anything along those lines. It has caused people to commit the same crime, become severely depressed and suicidal, as well as many other unfortunate events. People look down on those who have gone through such events, some may say things such as, "you probably deserved it”, “you were dressed provocatively" or "how did you not enjoy that?” As such, rape is an underexplored
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.