Saudi Prince Whines That His Country's Punishment of Rape Victim Gets Bad Press

Posted by Lucinda Marshall, Feminist Peace Network at 12:00 PM on November 28, 2007.

This post, written by Lucinda Marshall, originally appeared on Feminist Peace Network

While Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal has issued a statement saying that the sentencing of the woman who was gang raped will be reviewed, it is clear that he still doesn't get it,

"What is outraging about this case is that it is being used against the Saudi government and people," he said without elaborating."

Well allow me to elaborate. What is outrageous is a country that so severely restricts women's rights and punishes them for being the victim. Could go on and on here, but the subject has already been addressed quite thoroughly in the last few weeks.

I have written about this several times now and have gotten a number of responses to the effect that why aren't feminists saying anything, feminists should take the lead, yada yada.

First of all, feminists all over the globe are speaking out, a simple search will bear that out. But WTF-why the presumption that feminists should lead the charge. Isn't misogynist violence something that all of us should be outraged about? Just because the victim of a human rights violation is a woman means that it is solely a feminist responsibility to speak out?

Second disturbing response, and this took place primarily over at Alternet when they reposted one of my blog entries-the comments are almost entirely about oil and whether or not Islam is a terrible religion-the misogyny is simply dismissed as incidental. This is something I have seen over and over again on topics such as this, where the violence against women is invisibilized and dismissed as not being the 'real' issue. And every time it happens, that violence is once again enabled by psuedo-liberals who are waiting for feminists to take the lead...

For those of you who have asked what can you do-write your elected officials, call the White House, and also see this post at WLUML for addresses of Saudi officials.

Tagged as: women, rape, saudi arabia, criminal justice

Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network.