In Pakistan heroin, hashish and alcohol addiction in the villages is now hitting females; the number of female addicts is rising quickly.
A typical story is that of Ayesha, 28 and addicted to
heroin. The first time she tasted heroin was studying in class, when she was in ninth grade in the village of Swabi.
Ayesha’s brother was a heroin dealer. At first, for Ayesha smoking the white powder in a cigarette felt really good.
However, soon afterward, it became apparent to her that
withdrawal was quick. She couldn’t do without the white powder for long. She’d become very jittery and restless. As she was conveying her story, tears were rolling down her cheeks, understandably so.
But in 2001 while she was a sophomore in college a double shocking event occurred for Ayesha, her brother who was also her supplier died of an overdose of heroin. Her guaranteed constant supply of heroin suddenly ended.
Ayesha left home and headed for Peshawar. For the following
eight years she wandered the streets searching for a fix and losing the urge to live in the process.
Unofficially, it is believed that there are five million drug addicts in Pakistan. The number of females in this statistic is unknown, but as stated earlier is rapidly rising.
An estimated 60 percent of the addicts belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and nearby tribal areas. To compound the problem, this area is near to Afghanistan, the number one producer of opium (94 percent) in the world.
Although most of the female addicts are poor village folks,
there are an increasing number of well-to-do addicts.
According to an article dated May 5, 2008, the number of babies born to addict mothers {in the UK} has doubled in the last five years.
In 2007 there were 1,970 women who were addicted to drugs upon giving birth. In 2003 there were 1057.
Of the 1970 addicted women, 1211 babies were born addicted to drugs. This means that every single day several drug addicted mothers will give birth, and of those roughly 60 percent of the babies will be born addicted, with withdrawal symptoms imminent.
The stats for poor inner city mothers in the U.S. are
considerably higher.
These unfortunate babies will manifest withdrawal symptoms:
-Loud and pitched crying
-Stomach aches
-Overly sweating
-Tremors
-Irritability
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-Vomiting
-Seizures
-Easily startled
Long-term effects may include:
-Birth Defects
-Impaired growth
-Lifelong behavioural problems
-Delayed motor skills development
NOTE: The aforementioned list should not be used as a
diagnostic tool or criteria. An addicted baby should be
diagnosed and treated by qualified medical staff. There’s absolutely no substitute.
These addicted babies need good specialized care in medical
settings. Mothers are often incapable of properly taking care of themselves, let alone a newborn baby. Furthermore, below normal birth rate may increase the likelihood of infection and may reduce the body’s ability to fight off common germs. Compound this with the babies’ fight against drugs and you have a potentially big problem.
When a woman is pregnant what she consumes passes into the baby’s bloodstream. -Alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, crack, heroin, opium or artificial stimulants can be hazardous to the baby.
Attacks and rapes against women can be massive in scale; it
can be part of a military campaign, an ethnic cleansing campaign, revenge or a spontaneous series of actions during a rampage.
Mass terror-rape is the worst and most grand-scale of all rapes.
A case in point involves the rape and in many instances the
gang-rape of up to two million German women by the Red Army.
This mass terror-rape began soon after the German Military began to seriously disintegrate and retreat near the end of the Second World War.
Millions of Slavs and much horrific devastation had been caused by the German Military during the Second World War.
Starvation, imprisonment, horrible destruction and rape were inflicted upon the Slavic peoples.
Bent on revenge, top brass and the Red Army’s soldiers
decided that one way to punish the German people was to rape their women.
As the Red Army proceeded hardly a female was safe; females
between the age of eight and eighty were targeted.
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The rapists included Russians, Cossacks and other Slavs.
Alcohol and other unknown drinks were rampant and it brought out the worst in many of the soldiers.
The rapes began in East Prussia; by January of 1945 the German Military was unable to properly defend the peripheral of its borders.
Many of the victims were also beaten, some mutilated and many were spat on as onlookers laughed. Not all the soldiers and officer corps approved of these actions, however, vengeance, anger and victory were in the air.
Joseph Stalin and his cronies knew exactly what was
happening but did little to stop it.
Ilya Ehrenburg, Minister of Soviet Propaganda urged the
Russian soldiers to punish the German women. Never mind they weren’t combatants in the least sense.
In at least one instance which occurred in Dahlem, inside a
maternity clinic and orphanage nuns, elderly women, pregnant women and new mothers were raped or gang-raped. There was no sympathy in the air.
The Red Army soldiers even had their ‘fill’ in liberated concentration camps, even raping their own kind (Russian women) and Jewish survivors of the camps.
Many German women tried to hide others made themselves
appear ugly and unattractive by pasting their faces and bodies with dirt.
The mass terror-rape of Bosnian Muslim women was a
calculated move by the Serbian Authorities. One of the purposes of the rapes was to impregnate the victims.
Many of the Muslim women were taken at gunpoint and then repeatedly raped often by more than one person.
The Partizan Hall, located in the center of a small village
named Foca, was used as a special rape camp for two consecutive summer months in 1992. Dozens of women were routinely raped and gang-raped by Serbian soldiers, without mercy.
During the war dozens of rape camps were used throughout Bosnia. The Partizan Hall rape camp was located beside the local police station; complaints and pleadings were ignored. This was a horrific civil war.
But beside the rape centers there were countless other
rapes conducted by Serb soldiers and paramilitary groups.
The victims of these rapes who are still alive are still suffering from the effects, no doubt.
During the Armenian Genocide (1915-1917), a plan by the
Turkish Authorities to exterminate and expel the Armenian population within its borders was implemented.
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Between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered
outright, died of starvation or exhaustion, torture or from the elements (deportation, long treacherous treks).
Many thousands of women were brutally raped and gang-raped.
Within many of these rapes were horrific acts of torture and mutilation.
During the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, mass slaughter, plundering and ransacking and rape were rampant.
Rapists included members of the military, paramilitary and individuals out for revenge.
U.N. Special Representative Margot Wallstrom once referred to Eastern Congo as ‘the rape capital of the world’, where it was estimated that 48 women were being raped every hour.
Throughout this conflict many of the victims were raped for
being on the wrong side, living in the wrong village or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Any excuse to rape. And as with other acts of mass terror-rape being too young or too old is no guarantee of safety.
But this land had endured mass terror-rape earlier in the 20th century. Belgian soldiers ‘did’ many Congolese women. There were also instances of young Congolese men being forced to have sex with their mothers, at gunpoint of course.
During the brutal civil war in Sudan, in particular Darfur and the surrounding regions horrible slaughters, tortures, expulsions, starvations and deprivations and intimidation of countless peoples was a normal occurrence.
However, in addition to the horrors of the Sudan civil war there were countless rapes and gang-rapes of women, some young and others old.
The Janjaweed, a so-called Arab militia, used mass rapes and gang-rapes as one of their methods of punishing, terrifying and controlling their enemies. The raped women were non-combatants, innocent of any wrongdoing.
One of the common methods of the Janjaweed was to enter a village, well-armed and sometimes on horseback, separate the men from the women and begin their work.
Many men were slaughtered. The prettiest women were further
separated from the other women. Being pregnant was no defence either.
The rapes occurred in secluded places, in public and
sometimes in refugee camps. Victims have reported that the rapists enjoyed themselves during the act, laughing and singing away. In addition, the rapists would taunt the victims. A common taunt was ‘slave’. The cries of the victims were ignored.
Many rape victims in Sudan, both Arab and African have a hesitant attitude regarding conveying their stories.
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Birth control devices and pills weren’t easily accessible.
Furthermore, STDs and the shock of giving birth to an innocent baby resulting from a rape are traumatizing. The mere act at looking at her child is a reminder of what’d happened.
Married rape victims could expect to be divorced by their husbands. Single rape victims could expect to be off limits to men.
Most of the literature in the news pertaining to the
horrific was in Sudan condemns the Arab government and
combatants. Looking at the whole picture, the conspiracy was to carve a piece off of Sudan, once the largest Arab country which happens to be predominately Muslim. The people pulling the strings couldn’t care less about the Arab or African peoples in Sudan, the combatants or the victims. Since when does the western world care about blacks in Africa? For them, there’s no difference between a black Arab and a black non-Arab.
It’s beyond the scope of this to go into detail about the colonialist aspirations in the Sudan and the rest of Africa.
Rape has become a rampant problem for women and also
children in South Africa. It’s so bad some experts refer to this situation as ‘a war against South African women’.
South African women have a 25 percent chance of being raped
prior to turning 16. In addition, marital violence and child abuse is common.
Although the South African public is more attuned to the rape problem in their country most rapes and attempted rapes are not reported. Understandably,
better
policing
and
stiffer
penalties haven’t put a dent on this problem.
Since South Africa’s independence the rate of child abuse incidents has risen several hundred percent. There are even cases of baby rape; a preposterous belief amongst many men in Southern Africa regards having sex with a baby a cure for HIV
and AIDS. Where this preposterous belief originated, I’d surely like to know.
Many rapists in South Africa truly believe that they have an inherent right to have sex with women and that raping them isn’t wrong.
South
Africa’s
Deputy
President,
Jacob
Zuma
blames
apartheid for ‘sowing the seeds for the breakdown of the institution of the family’.
In addition, there has been a recent, significant rise in rapes of lesbians in South Africa. The belief is ‘this act will cure you of your lesbianism’. In addition, brutal attacks and murders of lesbians have been on the rise. These crimes for the most part are not publicized and aren’t punished.
A
case
in
point
involves
Eudy
Simelane,
a
former
star/athlete of South Africa’s national female football league.
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She was open about her lifestyle; her life ended in a brutal gang-rape, a beating and being stabbed a total of 25 times in the face, chest and legs.
I don’t support gay or lesbian lifestyles or actions in any
way, shape or form. However, the brutal rapes, beatings and murders of people by raving lunatics are a grave danger to any society; they’re acting as judge, juror, executioner and moral police.
During the Second World War the Japanese Military used
200,000 (some estimates are higher) ‘comfort women’. These women were sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers. The women were all Asians; Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The comfort women were scattered throughout the Japanese
occupied territories and also in Japan proper.
The comfort women were used as sex slaves to the fullest intent.
The first comfort women though, were Japanese prostitutes who began their work in the early 1930s. However, supply and demand were lopsided. This resulted in the luring of additional women from the territories with work and other opportunities; the women were lied to. They had no idea what they were getting into.
Comfort women, especially during the war were nothing more than sex slaves. Many lived and were treated like beasts.
The absolute worst and most heinous brutal acts of rapes and gang-rapes occurred in Nanking, China; commonly referred to as the ‘Rape of Nanking’. There was no restraint in the bombing and raping of Nanking; as stated by many witnesses ‘it was extremely savage without any limitations’. The age parameters of victims was broad, children or elderly grandmothers were also rape victims.
There was no Nuremburg-style trial/s for the perpetrators.
Punishment for the losing side was selective at best. Many of the rapists and those who orchestrated these acts lived the remainder of their lives without fear of being arrested.
Many comfort women were used for months on end or longer, having to service many men in the process. So whatever the estimate is regarding the number of comfort women, it’s safe to multiply that number many-fold to get an idea of how many acts of rape and gang-rape were committed.
Although the Communist Party of China has ensured that its citizens not forget the rape of Nanking, the heinous acts are continuing by the very organization that’s doing the reminding.
In particular people practicing Falun Gong and other
minorities have been subjected to persecution and brutality.
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Females practicing Falun Gong have been subjected to
extreme sexual harassment, aggressive groping and sometimes rape by Chinese policemen. Mothers are also raped too.
As a general rule, policemen aren’t charged, tried and
convicted for these offences. In fact, policemen are sometimes given bonuses or promotions. The Chinese authorities have learned absolutely nothing from the Second World War; and it seems that much of the world is ignorant too.
During the civil war of 1971 in Pakistan that led to the establishment of Bangladesh, countless Bangladeshi women were brutally raped and gang-raped by Pakistani soldiers.
This horrible series of acts was so shocking that soon
afterwards, the Bangladesh Government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared that all Bangladeshi women raped during this conflict were ‘heroines’.
Pakistani
soldiers
swept
into
Bangladeshi
villages,
sometimes in truckloads, rounded up the women and then took them to military compounds.
Countless Bangladeshis were slaughtered and villages were
pillaged and burned during this brutal civil war.
The rapes were well-orchestrated and the command and
‘permission’ to commit the acts came from the top brass. The idea appeared to be to punish, humiliate and harm the entire seceding region; no wonder they seceded.
The only good news is that many Bangladeshi women were able
to flee beforehand and hide from the rapist soldiers.
An unknown number of rapes occurred while husbands were
forced to watch their wives. The husbands of course were either tied up or were somehow prevented from interceding.
The Bangladeshi Government estimated that up to 300,000 of their women were raped. There’s no way to determine the exact number, but the aforementioned number doesn’t seem to be off base. In addition, millions of people lost their homes or much of their subsistence. Estimates of Bangladeshi deaths range from a few hundred thousand to three million, depending on the source.
The conflict only lasted nine months but the devastation and its reverberations would last decades-on-end.
Many
of
the Bangladeshi
women
were
impregnated.
By
tradition of the area, many of the husbands refused to take back their raped wives (impregnated or not). In addition, by
tradition of the area, most virgins who were raped became off limits for marriage, even though they were raped and it could be proven so.
Eighty percent or more of the women raped during this
conflict were Muslims most of the rest were Hindu, and the tiniest percentage was Christian.
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Although the Pakistani soldiers were, in theory Muslims,
mass
terror-rape
often
takes
a
circuitous
route;
co-
religionists, members of identical races, languages, etc. can be
‘raped’ or ‘gang-raped’ for so-called justifiable reasons; targets of rapes and gang-rapes, they become nothings.
Many of the rapists in this conflict were hypocritical;
raping their defenceless co-religionist women and then later performing Salat (ritual prayer).
When large numbers of soldier commit terrible crimes in a systematic way, therès usually some kind of brainwashing, the military and hate mongering is likely emanating from the ruling elite and top brass.
Although this horrible civil war`s termination was aided by
Indian Military intervention the primary motive was political and for vengeance.
In 1947 India was brutally partitioned, a large section
became Pakistan. Millions of Muslims, Hindus and others became homeless countless others were killed or wounded.
Since the partition India and Pakistan have gone to war and
countless skirmishes have occurred. Furthermore, the Indian Military has also used rape as a horrific tool against the women of Kashmir. I will discuss this later.
Bangladesh officially became a nation on December 16, 1971,
but the mass terror-rape of its women has for the most part been ignored or deliberately kept a secret in the media outlets around the world. Furthermore, even though the two most powerful individuals in Bangladesh today are women, it doesn’t seem to have helped the average woman living in a village.
Since 1989 at the onset of the profoundly lopsided armed conflict the Indian Military has significantly increased its use of
systematic
killings,
brutality,
torture,
imprisonment,
harassment and the rape and gang-rape of women and girls in their illegal occupation of Kashmir.
The international community has, for the most part turned a
blind eye to the crimes against humanity occurring in Kashmir; the United Nations appears to be impotent in imposing any kind of true sincere protection for the people of Kashmir.
Kashmiri women and children suffer the brunt of violence.
Kashmiri women are specifically targeted for rape, and many have also been tortured in the process. Indian soldiers have
literally carved up rape victims with knives and other sharp objects. Beatings of both men and women occur routinely.
A study conducted in 2005 by Medecins Sans Frontieres
(Doctors without Borders) indicates that Kashmiri women are ranked as one of the worst victims of sexual violence.
Kashmiri rape statistics are grossly incomplete. Many rape victims are absolutely terrified of conveying their stories in 91
public or to take their cases to court. Retribution by the courts
and
vengeance
by
Indian
Military
personnel
and
individuals is a constantly lurking fear.
During the profoundly lopsided war in Chechnya the Russian Military used brutal rapes and gang-rapes (even of visibly pregnant women), indiscriminate killings, torture, kidnappings, checkpoints, unlawful incarceration, disappearances, massive devastation and destruction and brutal blockades to terrify and subdue the Chechen population.
But during the late 1990s until early in the 20th century horrific accounts of rape had been documented. According to human rights watch ‘Russian Soldiers have been raping Chechen women in areas of Russian-controlled Chechnya.
The horrors though, began in 1994. And by 1999 up to one fifth of the population had either been killed or disappeared.
Beatings during rapes and gang-rapes had occurred too.
Soldiers were often drunk, drinking Vodka. Sometimes raped victims were brutally killed afterwards.
There were instances of non-combatant women locked up and repeatedly raped by Russian soldiers. But regardless of the statistics, in Chechnya too, single women who are raped will very likely stay that way; hardly a man will want to marry the victim, even if it can be proven that she was raped. Married women may be divorced by their husbands.
Another category of Chechen rape victims were those who
were brutally kidnapped and sent off to detention centers where anything goes. Russian Military checkpoints were also a place of danger for Chechen women; they could be beaten, spat on, insulted or in some instances taken away and then raped or gangraped.
Although rape during a conflict is considered a war crime (Article Four of the Geneva Convention defines rape as a war crime. Furthermore, Article twenty seven clearly prohibits it), we’ve seen this heinous act occur over and over again.
Considerably weaker and smaller nations than Russia have thumbed their noses at the United Nations and world court. In addition, Russia has permanent superpower status.
This mass terror-rape of the Chechen nation and women was well orchestrated. Conveniently, many of the males therein were killed or sent off to detention centers.
Rape has also been used as a terror tactic against the Kurdish communities in Turkey. The Turkish authorities commonly refer to this population as ‘Mountain Turks’. They don’t even want to accept the true identity of the Kurds.
But for decades-on end the Turkish Military has been
slaughtering Kurds, imprisoning them without due process,
destroying their homes and villages, using horrific torture and