Violence against women

The forms of violence referred to as “harmful cultural or traditional practices” have been addressed by the United Nations for many years. These forms of violence include female genital mutilation, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, child marriage, forced marriage, dowry-related violence, acid attacks, so-called “honour” crimes, and maltreatment of widows.

For Fazeelat Bibi, 21, the last few days of 2009 have brought her some retribution, if not cheer. "Justice has been delivered," said the young woman, her voice void of any feelings. An anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani eastern city of Lahore, on Dec. 21, ordered the noses and ears of two brothers, Sher Mohammad, 27, and Amanat Ali, 29, to be cut off after doing the same to Bibi in September. The court also sentenced the brothers to life imprisonment and ordered them to pay 700,000 rupees (8,300 U.S. dollars) in compensation to the victim.

A British woman who made a rape complaint in Dubai has been arrested for having illegal sex with her fiance, according to reports. The woman, a 23-year-old from London, said she was raped by a waiter in a luxury hotel after celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, also from London. But when she reported the alleged rape to police in the Middle Eastern state she and her boyfriend were arrested for having sex outside marriage and illegal drinking outside licensed premises.

The Hail Emirate has received official orders to implement the recent sentence handed down against the defendants in the case of Khamisa Sawadi, issued by members of the Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice in the City of Shamli (170 kilometers south of Hail), which was known in the media as 'The case of the elderly woman of Shamli'. Saudi sources have confirmed to Emirati newspaper, Gulf News, that the woman is still in her house and the sentence has not been carried out yet.