OT: Canadian Town Passes Law Banning the Stoning, Burning or Mutilation of Women

This is one of the more bizzare headlines I have seen. This wasn't already against the law?

"We consider it completely outside norms to... kill women by stoning them in public, burning them alive, burning them with acid, circumcising them etc."

Link

Wed. Jan 31, 10:12am

i think the whole point is that these things ARE against the law in Canada and the lawmakers want to re-emphasize that to immigrants who may practice these acts of punishment in their home country. (what's interesting is that the immigrants are described as having "abandoned" their countries of origin.) it comes across as sort of stereotypical, but in the long run, it may prevent acts considered tortuous or violent in Canada from being inflicted on women, and may just prevent the need of bringing up the subject in a court of law after-the-fact. i guess it can be seen as racist by some, but a little politically "incorrect" lawmaking that protects women's lives is insignificant compared to the atrocities that some might otherwise have had to suffer through.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 10:19 AM

Did you read the article? It is meant to send a message to an immigrant population. The fears of the locals were most likely prompted by recent news stories and cases brought up by among others Amnesty international, often tied to Sharia Law in some of the more hardline Islamic societies and the concept of "honour killings" in such places as India and Pakistan. Whether the passing of this law was based on racism, I can't say, but it does bring up interesting issues of integration and culture clashes exacerbated by misinformation and fear.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 10:24 AM

he reiteration of the laws is really just to calm down those who would be afraid of immigrants and their ways of life in order to avoid blatant racism from corrupting the community. as the community comes to accept people from outside their region, even country, education should definitely be introduced to help defer fears of the unknown. i don't blame the residents for being concerned, after all, they are trying to preserve their way of life and people historically fight changes in this area. the ignorance that provoked the lawmakers to make clear the laws surrounding the legal treatment of women will ultimately lead to education and understanding of others' cultures.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 10:34 AM

10:34- Ignorance of what? Seems like the folks in this town know exactly what the deal is with certain elements of immigrant populations, and wanted to make crystal clear that "tolerance" is a two way street. I think the problem isn't a lack of respect from the west to elements of islam- it is the other way around. They don't respect us much of the time.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 10:40 AM

1034 here

ignorance of the fact that Canadian-born residents and immigrants other than muslims use many other ways to torture or commit violence against women and children (and men, too), not just those they rallied against. the fact that the restatement of the laws focuses solely on perceived all-encompassing traditional punishments or acts to ensure obedience and not on all of the actual domestic violence abuses that are committed daily by many different races & religions, be they immigrants or citizens or visitors, limits the population they are preaching about and to. if the law reassessed what defines domestic violence or abuse or torture and did not address specific acts, such as those described in the article, it would be more broadly accepted and not even entertain the thought of racism being involved. simply outlining certain ways in which people are made to suffer at the hands of others doesn't really protect the canadian people from the immigrants (or each other), it protects the immigrants from each other. that's why i used the word ignorance.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 11:21 AM

10:34- I can't figure out what the heck you are talking about. Are you saying that these Canadians are ignoring other forms of violence committed by non-muslims? I think what you are getting at is the whole idea of "eqivalance"- that their beliefs, practices are in some way equivalent. I guess what is going on is that these Canadians don't agree with you, are calling bs on that whole idea. Now don't get me wrong, I get that western Canadians do bad things to each other. Thats why they have jails and stuff. I think the whole point here is that some forms of muslim behavior are simply barbaric and NOT equivalent. The fact that people are drawing a distinction upsets you I guess, or you disagree strongly with that.

I, and others on the other hand are standing up and applauding. Certain parts of the muslim world are extremely aggresive. The wost of the behavior is not directed at the west, it is directed at their own people. In the case of India, it has been directed at Hindus for hundreds of years. Most people have no problem recognizing this. Those on the far left for some bizzare reason voiceferously deny/reject that there are differences, or that these differences should be respected or in some way justifed as "part of their culture that should be respected"

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 12:19 PM

look, there are objectionable treatments in all societies, religions, regions. take the catholic church, for example. are lawmakers going to start restating laws that prohibit child molestation in the neighborhoods surrounding churches/monestaries? are lawmakers going to redistribute written laws that promote equal rights for all, regardless of race, creed, religion, or sexual persuasion in communities that are clearly driven by segregation of minorities? no. the gov't is lax in allowing immigrants to settle down in communities without first educating these immigrants about the acceptable forms of treatment in their new country. to instead publicly condemn only particular acts of violence that MAY be committed by some immigrants adds to the separation of the cultures. i'm not implying that stoning or burning women are equal to acts of domestic violence like slapping a woman, but these are long standing means of punishment in other countries and to proclaim that the canadians are not going to tolerate this type of behavior in their country, whilst noble, is not solving anything. to really make changes in the behavior of immigrant populations that flock to the canadian provences, the gov't has to take a global stand on the humane treatment of all peoples, everywhere. when are the lawmakers going to make clear that chopping off a hand is not okay as a form of punishment for stealing? or that caning is not permissable? when we start defining what is NOT allowable without also advising what IS allowable, we may find that we are saying, "don't bring your culture here." education is the key to bridging the gap between the cultures/religions.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 12:44 PM

The assertion is ridiculous that it's for "immigrants". People from other countries know that's it's wrong, even if it's not illegal.

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 9:01 AM

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