The gendercide referred to by Dutch legislator Ayaan Hirsi Ali in her IHT article includes female infanticide, honor killings, genital mutilation, sex slavery and domestic oppression and abuse.
Cultural and moral relativists sap our sense of moral outrage by claiming that human rights are a Western invention. Men who abuse women rarely fail to use the vocabulary the relativists have provided them. They claim the right to adhere to an alternative set of values - an "Asian," "African" or "Islamic" approach to human rights.
This mind-set needs to be broken. A culture that carves the genitals of young girls, hobbles their minds and justifies their physical oppression is not equal to a culture that believes women have the same rights as men.
Three initial steps could be taken by world leaders to begin eradicating the mass murder of women:
A tribunal such as the court of justice in The Hague should look for the 113 million to 200 million women and girls who are missing.
A serious international effort must urgently be made to precisely register violence against girls and women, country by country.
We need a worldwide campaign to reform cultures that permit this kind of crime. Let's start to name them and shame them.
The courage and candor of Hirsi Ali should work to inspire a broadening of the concept of feminism. Such a redefined "global" feminism could win the support of the political left and right, of men and women. The official feminist movement in America doesn't seem to have an opinion on the matter.
Posted by dan at March 25, 2006 2:02 PM