Kevin TOW #24 - What’s Worse Than a Girl Being Kidnapped?- ADAOBI TRICIA NWAUBANI

Two years ago, more than 200 girls were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok by Boko Haram. A few dozen have since escaped, but a vast majority remain prisoners of the Islamist insurgents. Chibok is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, located in the south of the state. The kidnappings of the more than 200 girls in Chibok made global news a couple years ago, shocking the world. In an article, written by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, giving accounts of the interviews she held with families of the kidnapped girls, it was apparent that the road to getting their girls back was a lengthy and complicated one, as the problems are not limited to the missing girls.

The people in Chibok, are plagued with a hopeless mindset as a result of the abysmal living conditions in the region as Nwaubani states “What I was not prepared for was the realization that what had seemed, from the outside, like one of the greatest horrors to befall a people appeared from the inside as just another great misfortune in a land where tragedy is an everyday occurrence,” (2). These are people in the forgotten backyard of the country.  At 76.3 percent, that region has an astoundingly high poverty rate. At 109 deaths per 1,000 births, it has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. The literacy rate of men is 18.1 percent and that of women is 15.4 percent — again, by far the worst in the country. (12) The people of Chibok want their girls back, however they are faced with an insurmountable amount of poverty among other issues. Many families of the region have as many children as possible to account for the high mortality rates. With these issues in mind the notion of tragedy being an everyday occurrence reigns supreme. It is not that the people of Chibok do not care for their missing daughters, the people, living amongst monumental poverty and illiteracy, have sadly grown numb to the tragedies that occur daily.

Organizations like Bring Back Our Girls did a lot of good by making people care about the girls’ plights, however little light has been shed on the many other problems of the community. The region must overcome its day to day tragedies, overcoming the numbness that comes with these tragedies. Overcoming the poverty would mean less worry about infant mortality rates, less worry about whether their children will survive, and result in a better situation for the people of Chibok and the kidnapped girls. “Without a doubt, the abducted girls need to be rescued. But deliverance is equally needed for all the people of northeast Nigeria, a region where death has cast its long shadow.” (13)

TOW #22: Nonfiction Text- The Dirty Old Men of Pakistan - Mohammed Hanif

The goal of gender equality is a goal that, for Americans, is still a long way from being achieved. Meanwhile, in countries where Shariah is the law of the land, the equality that we find in the United States would be otherwise unfathomable for many years to come.  In countries where Shariah law reigns, it is imperative that in order for gender equality to have grounds to grow, the government, its laws, and the ideologies and morals of men must all be reformed. A satirical article written by Mohammed Hanif discusses how In spite of this unfathomable goal of gender equality ahead “Pakistan’s largest province passed a new law called the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act. The law institutes radical measures that say a husband can’t beat his wife, and if he does he will face criminal charges and possibly even eviction from his home. It proposes setting up a hotline women can call to report abuse. In some cases, offenders will be required to wear a bracelet with a GPS monitor and will not be allowed to buy guns,” (2). This law expresses the need for reform in countries where Shariah reigns supreme. The very idea that this law was written up, and especially the heavy backlash received in order to protect “a man’s God-given right to give a woman a little thrashing,” (1) is exemplary of the length of the journey to gender equality, provided by a much needed reform in the government, legal system, and overall the moral standard of these pious old men.

The law was quickly deemed un-islamic by a coalition of more than 30 religious and political parties on the grounds that it is “an attempt to secularize Pakistan and a clear and present threat to our most sacred institution: the family,” (3), as well as from the government itself. The government-appointed Council of Islamic Ideology declared it “repugnant to our religion and culture.” (5). This council’s main purpose is to ensure the laws passed follow Shariah. The council has also defended a man’s right to marry a minor, dispensed him from asking for permission from his first wife before taking a second or a third, and made it impossible for women to prove rape.

As an American, while the task of gender equality still seems daunting despite the progress that has been made, it is overwhelming and infuriating, to see the monumental imbalance between genders. Before women can make any attempts at equality, this notion must be instilled within the men of the community, especially those in power to reform. If those men are unwilling to change themselves, which is likely considering how long these ideals have been in place, pressure from the outside is a must. And it is only with this change that the rest of the nation may follow suit.