RCNI Press Release 26 October 2006
The RCNI strongly object to women being compared to meat
The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) today call for a considered response to Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, the Mufti of Australia’s, comments that women were meat who were to blame for sexual assault if they wore make up, dressed ‘immodestly’ and wore no hijab.
Fiona Neary, RCNI Executive Director said, ‘while we utterly condemn the comments of Mr al-Hilali in relation to women who are raped are to blame because of their behaviour, the sad reality is that our society is full of people who think the same thing but do not voice it so bluntly. We simply use different words. I would call on anyone who is rightly reacting with horror and indignation to Mr al-Halali’s words to also consider our own attitudes and beliefs. Women in our culture here in Ireland are also often seen as unthinking, unfeeling and inhuman meat to be targeted if vulnerable and to be exploited sexually wherever possible.
This is the Ireland we live in. While Mr al-Halali’s defence is that he only sought to protect women’s honour by preaching that all good women should stay ‘in her room, in her home, in her hijab’, let us not forget the lengths we will go to in our culture to control, limit and stifle women’s potential in the name of protecting their honour and ensuring their safety. Women have a right to freedom. That includes freedom from the threat of violence, freedom from being only of value for her sexual attractiveness, freedom to enjoy her sexuality as a whole human being, freedom to choose expressions of her sexuality without suffering consequences of violence when she does. Women are not ‘weapons’ used to control men, as it is reported Mr al-Halali said, rather the true power lies with men to control their own behaviour rather than to control women’s behaviour in the name of honour.’
Notes:
• The RCNI is the national forum of Rape Crisis Centres, which provides a strong voice for survivors and is a catalyst for social change to end rape and all forms of sexual violence.
• An Amnesty International UK survey in 2005 found that:
o A third of people, both men and women, thought a woman was in some way responsible for being raped if she was drunk;
o 28% thought she was partly responsible if she acted in a flirtatious manner;
o 29% if she had failed to clearly say no to the man;
o 20% if the woman was wearing revealing clothing; and
o 14% if the woman had had a number of sexual partners.
For information contact:
Cliona Saidlear 087 2196447
……………..End…………………
Fiona Neary, RCNI Executive Director said, ‘while we utterly condemn the comments of Mr al-Hilali in relation to women who are raped are to blame because of their behaviour, the sad reality is that our society is full of people who think the same thing but do not voice it so bluntly. We simply use different words. I would call on anyone who is rightly reacting with horror and indignation to Mr al-Halali’s words to also consider our own attitudes and beliefs. Women in our culture here in Ireland are also often seen as unthinking, unfeeling and inhuman meat to be targeted if vulnerable and to be exploited sexually wherever possible.
This is the Ireland we live in. While Mr al-Halali’s defence is that he only sought to protect women’s honour by preaching that all good women should stay ‘in her room, in her home, in her hijab’, let us not forget the lengths we will go to in our culture to control, limit and stifle women’s potential in the name of protecting their honour and ensuring their safety. Women have a right to freedom. That includes freedom from the threat of violence, freedom from being only of value for her sexual attractiveness, freedom to enjoy her sexuality as a whole human being, freedom to choose expressions of her sexuality without suffering consequences of violence when she does. Women are not ‘weapons’ used to control men, as it is reported Mr al-Halali said, rather the true power lies with men to control their own behaviour rather than to control women’s behaviour in the name of honour.’
Notes:
• The RCNI is the national forum of Rape Crisis Centres, which provides a strong voice for survivors and is a catalyst for social change to end rape and all forms of sexual violence.
• An Amnesty International UK survey in 2005 found that:
o A third of people, both men and women, thought a woman was in some way responsible for being raped if she was drunk;
o 28% thought she was partly responsible if she acted in a flirtatious manner;
o 29% if she had failed to clearly say no to the man;
o 20% if the woman was wearing revealing clothing; and
o 14% if the woman had had a number of sexual partners.
For information contact:
Cliona Saidlear 087 2196447
……………..End…………………