Most males would never come to understand the harrowing ordeal of rape victims. Rape culture is a reality all over the world, even in the so-called ‘modern’ West. The only difference is, it manifests in different ways.
In the West, it manifests in the form of males surreptitiously plying women with drink and drugs then taking advantage of them without their consent.
In India, it manifests in the form of rape gangs roaming the streets looking for victims and using girls as platforms for clannish vendettas.
But nowhere in the world is like Malaysia, where rape culturalists manifest in the form of Members of Parliament who try to legitimize child marriages between rapists and victims of statutory rape.
It is utterly nauseating to say the least.
Rapists solving social problems?
Tasek Gelugor MP, Shabudin Yahya said today, marriage between a victim and her rapist can in fact help solve social problems.“The thing is they have an opportunity — with a marriage they can lead a healthy and good life,” he said during the committee stage debate of the Bill.
“For a wife that was raped, if she can marry (the person) she would not go through such a bleak future. At least she has someone who can become her husband. So this will be a remedy to social problems,”
A symptom of male privilege
This is a symptom of male privilege. Shabudin will never understand the physical and psychological trauma of rape victims. This is why he is able to make such callous remarks.
Some people may say, ‘this is a consensual thing. The child was not forced into having sex’. This is another symptom of male privilege. Will you allow a child to do all the things adults do? What is the point of an age of consent for anything then?
The fact of the matter is, a child below the age of consent is not mentally capable nor psychologically ready for sexual relations. She may not even understand what will actually take place, let alone the feelings which would arise from those actions. As such, she will be a vulnerable victim who will have to deal with this experience for the rest of their lives. And worst of all, this gigantic mistake in her life cannot be undone.
Using religion as an excuse for paedophilia
Some folks may actually bring up religion as an excuse for their paedophilia (let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?). They tell us that Prophet Muhammad married a six year old girl, Aisha, and consummated the marriage when she was 9! This claim has been debunked by historians (you will find an example here). This claim has many contradictions in history and worse still, it contradicts the Quran itself.
If we analyse verses traditionally regarded as referring to Prophet Muhammad and his wives, we will see that the words used are all pertaining to adults (azwaaj, nisaa) He never married any children (tiflaat) although the word is used in the Quran.
Furthermore, the rule is for believers to marry other believers (of any faith – Chapter 2, Verse 221) and the definition of believers are those who are active in social duties (9/71). This totally precludes any children!
Whatever their excuse, our collective conscience simply reels in disgust at this act. We should be protecting our children from these predators, not stamping their passports into our children’s bedrooms!
This MP ShabudinYahya should be sacked from his party but since it’s UMNO, that will never happen. Rather why not vote Shabudin and UMNO itself out in the next General Election?
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By Farouk A Peru, Islamologist and author
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