Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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resistance to victimization. In 1000 splendid suns
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introduction
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violence towards women,
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particularly spousal abuse has been pervasive in Afghan society for many,
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many years,
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victimization is defined as the actor process of
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singling someone out for cruel or unfair treatment.
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Typically through physical or emotional abuse.
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2019,
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the United Nations study found that more than 80%
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of reported cases of violence against women in Afghanistan,
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the abuse was perpetrated by a family member,
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mainly, I suppose
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majority of Muslims in Afghanistan agree that
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the wife should always obey their husbands.
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Resistance to victimization.
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Resistance to victimization is when the
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victim of a hostile situation or relationship
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acts against a person or group who is mistreating or
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even of using them for no apparent or given reason
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the women of Afghanistan feel like they have little
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choice when it comes to their resisting to victimization.
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According to Human Rights Watch report released in March 2012,
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up to 70% of approximately 700
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prisoners in Afghanistan
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have been in prison for running away and nearly
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we're all fleeing forced to marriage or domestic abuse.
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Women are reluctant to resistant violence for many reasons,
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such as fear of reprimand
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family pressure.
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We're getting the stigma associated with resistance from a female,
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The risk of losing their Children, financial dependence, et cetera.
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Women face tremendous pressure by society to not resist being victimized,
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particularly when the violence is not from their husbands.
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Women who are brave enough to flee their abusers are often prosecuted
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for it
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preposterous moral crimes such as attempting to engage in sex
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outside of marriage and are punished violently for these sins.
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Many fear the options of
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protection for victims of violence
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will only worsen that the taliban increase their presence in Afghanistan,
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activists agree that corruption and war make it increasingly
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hard for humanitarian aid to reach a woman victims
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and support shelters for women who resist victimization
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are being closed by the taliban.
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A brief history of women's rights in Afghanistan
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during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. In 1980s,
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the women of Afghanistan were raped and
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beaten by the warlords and rural traditionalists.
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Despite the violence towards women at that time,
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they were allowed to seek an education and were allowed to be gainfully unemployed
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When the Taliban gained control of the country.
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After the Soviet departure from 1996 to 2001,
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the result of their ruling had drastic consequences
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for the women and girls of Afghanistan.
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Girls access to education after the age of eight was outlawed,
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Women were forbidden from working women were forced to cover up their bodies
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when in public, including their faces,
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men were allowed to beat their wives for going out and telling their husbands
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without telling their husband, neglecting the Children,
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arguing with her husband, refusing sex and burning the food.
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Once the US invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban forces retreated,
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there is hope amongst the women of the country
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that they're human rights would be protected once again,
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But in 2012, the Afghan Ulema Council, an unelected council of Muslim clergy
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issued a nonbinding
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addict, proclaiming that men are fundamental and women are secondary.
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Women should wear full Islamic hijab respect polygamy
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and comply with sherry law and divorce.
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In addition, any teasing, harassing and beating women is prohibited
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only without a sherry a complaint reason.
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Leaving room to suggest that domestic abuse is justifiable in certain situations.
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President Hamid Karzai.
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Yes. But
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despite recently signing legislation to
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eliminate violence and discrimination against women
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endorsed the addict
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That referred to women as 2nd class citizens.
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The elimination of violence against women. E. V. A. W.
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Law was created in 2009 by former President Hamid Karzai
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and reconfirmed in 2018 by President Ashraf Ghani.
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The Eva W makes 22 acts of abuse towards the woman of Afghanistan criminal offenses,
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There's a tremendous amount of progress
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required to establish safe and healthy living
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conditions for the women of Afghanistan as
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the issue of domestic abuse remains prevalent
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nowadays with the exit of the U. S. Troops from Afghanistan.
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Many fear the recent resurgence of the Taliban will destroy the progress
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made and the culture of treating women as a second citizens will return
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exists
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throughout Khaled Hosseini's novel,
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1000 splendid suns.
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The two female protagonists,
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Miriam and Leila bravely attempt to resist being victimized
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by the culturally accepted mistreatment of afghan women.
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Miriam Miriam and Leila are victims of violence there at the novel,
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the majority of the violence is at the hands of their husband rashid.
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Women tolerate the abuse for most of the parts
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as they fear the repercussions of resisting their husbands.
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Example, one
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the first glimpse at Layla demonstrating resistance to victimization.
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Victimization was when she courageously defends
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Miriam against one of rashid's violent attacks
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in the novel, Rashid comes after Miriam accusing her of teaching
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Leila resistant and therefore corrupting corrupting her.
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Leila believed Rashid was going to do something life threatening to Marion
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so she bravely stepped in to help
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Rashid raised the belt again
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and this time came at Merriam
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then an astonishing thing. The girl lunged at him.
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She grabbed his arm with both hands and tried to drag him down,
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but she could do no more than two angle from it.
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She did succeed in slowing down rashid's progress towards Miriam.
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Thanks to Layla's intervention, Miriam was spared of beating
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beating that night,
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but she is acutely aware that any
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resistance to rashid's victimization will be punished.
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At some point
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in the end, Miriam knew that they were not, they were not going to be a beating,
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Not that night
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in matters point,
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he shot her one last murderer stare
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as he made his way out of the door
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despite the fact that he did not physically punish Marian.
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She understood his threats of abuse and intimidation.
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The author uses this exchange to remind us that
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the husband is one with the one with the power
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and resisting that power could come at a valuable cost.
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We feel sympathetic to the women who feel like prisoners in their own homes.
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Example, two
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Laila and mariam,
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desperate to live better lives away from their abusive husband.
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Try to escape the violence and resist being victimized by rashid.
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While Rasheed is at work one day, Leyland,
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Miriam and Aziza attempt to board a bust for Pakistan.
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Mm hmm.
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They ask a fellow male passenger to act as
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their male escort but he exposes them to a soldier
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and they are denied entry to the bus and brought to the police station.
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Woman can be imprisoned for running away.
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The two women try to plead with officers to let them go.
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If you send us back, there's no, there's no saying what he'll do to us.
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What about the law then?
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Will you, will you be there to maintain order? The police officer responded.
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What a man does in his home is his business.
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As a matter of policy. We do not interfere with private family matters.
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Upon the return home,
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both women were badly beaten by rashid and locked in a room in the shadow side,
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rashid rashid
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threatened that if they were to try and escape again,
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they would be fine. He would find them and kill them
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saying that there isn't a court and this Godforsaken country
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that will hold them accountable for what I will do.
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This is another example of how resistance to
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victimization is a great risk to women in Afghanistan
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and amplifies how difficult it is to stand
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up against the violence inflicted by a man,
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even the people who,
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who are there to serve and protect our culturally ingrained to believe that the men
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have the right to treat women. However they would like
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makes the reader compassionate to the reasons why women
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in Afghanistan rarely try to escape their abusers.
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Example three
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in the novel, Leyland Miriam are not suffering abuse regularly by their husband,
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but it also sheds light on the reality that all men have the cultural right
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to victimize any woman at any time. For any reason.
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In the novel, Layla is obligated to surrender her daughter.
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Aziza to live at an orphanage.
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Leila is committed to visiting her daughter as much as possible,
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but when rashid refuses to accompany her,
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Layla must risk her safety and travel to the orphanage alone.
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As a female traveling outside the house without a chaperone
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is a risky endeavor and could result in punishment.
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Sometimes she was caught questioned, scolded
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2 3 Even four times in a single day.
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Then the whipped came down and the antenna
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slice through the air and she trudged her bloodied
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with so much as a glimpse of Aziza.
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Soon Leila took to wearing extra layers, even in the heat
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to three sweaters beneath the burka for padding against the beatings.
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This example from the novel is a harsh reminder to the reader
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that even the simplest, most honest acts,
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such as walking through town without a male escort
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is a freedom that african women do not have the luxury of having.
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If you are caught resisting the rules,
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then you're open to all sorts of harassment and violence by the men of the country.
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Whether it be instinctual or a desperate attempt to protect oneself
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when one is being beaten so badly, we naturally resist.
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In one particular scene in the novel, rashid is so angry,
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he comes after both Leila and Miriam.
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He believes Leila is committing a sin by talking with another man, her first love
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and that Miriam acting with Leila
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is conspiring against him.
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Layla and Marian both know by the look in his eyes that he is out to kill Leila
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after lashing Leila,
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he wrapped his hands around her neck with the intent to suffocate her.
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Miriam has a moment of awakening and realizing that rashid
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has taken so much from her in the 20 years,
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seven years of marriage
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she would not let them take lately too.
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Myriam raised
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the shovel high.
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Miriam commits the ultimate act of resistance to victimization
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and so Marian raised the shovel high,
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raised it as high as she could,
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arching it. So it touched the small of her back,
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she turned into the sharp edge
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was vertical
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and as she did it occurred to her
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that this was the first time she has made a deciding
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the course of her own life
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and with that
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Marian brought down the shovel.
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This time she gave everything she had
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the consequences of Miriam's Kamajors act of saving Layla's life.
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Are not lost on Marian.
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She fully understands the cultural view on the crime she has just committed.
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There is no forgiveness. When a woman murders her husband in self defense,
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Miriam's trial lasted 15 minutes with no cross examination and no legal counsel.
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When mariam explains the reason she killed her husband to the judges,
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they explained to her that because men and women are different,
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women can't be trusted.
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This is why we require only one male witness, but two female ones
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Madam tries to justify your actions. I admit to what I did brother,
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but I
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if I hadn't killed have killed her.
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If I hadn't have killed, he would have killed her.
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He was strangling her.
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Her explanation was met with a young judge saying, so you
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but then when a woman's wear all sorts of things all the time.
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This is another clear example from the author of how men and women
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in Afghanistan have a different set of moral standards
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where the men are valued much more
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than the women are and that resisting the violence is not justified,
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justified reaction for women.
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Conclusion,
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resistance to victimization was seen as one of the primary themes in the novel
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1000 splendid suns
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throughout the novel,
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the protagonist as well as the majority of females
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in Afghanistan are faced with the victimization almost daily
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and have resigned themselves. That the abuse is a normal part of their life,
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Mussolini's novel helps readers understand the reality
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for Afghan women and he illustrates through the characters of platelet and Miriam,
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that it takes much courage and bravery
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to risk your lives in resisting victimization.
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Despite help from international organizations to promote
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to promote women's rights in Afghanistan,
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the abuse of women remains widespread and pervasive in Afghan culture.
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Woman who suffer abuse
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abuse, particularly those who suffer from domestic abuse,
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have limited options when they choose
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to bravely resist being victimized.
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Few supports are in place for women who choose to leave their abuse
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abusive spouses
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and there is a great risk for their health and safety if they resist the violence.
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Claudia's story,
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Acadia is a 23 year old Afghan woman
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who chose death over living with her abusive husband
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when she doused herself in Kerosene and lit her body on fire.
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Que dios attempted at suicide failed
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media stories is one of the thousands of women in Afghanistan and the novel
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1000 splendid suns, highlights the harsh reality for most women in Afghanistan
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has seen it. Nick said, the director of Afghan Afghan Women's Network
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who counsels women such as Kennedy. He
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says it's often easier to stay with the pain
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Starting a new life in Afghanistan seems impossible.
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We're not given any chances, let alone a second of chance.
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Women prefer death to pain
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of being separated from their Children.
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This is why many women before consulting the law
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will resort to self immolation or suicide or run away
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I have seen has helped shed light on
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the risk and danger involved when women in Afghanistan
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resisted victimization.
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A tremendous amount of reform from the government and international
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agencies is necessary to support women's rights and to combat the
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reluctance of women to resist victimization
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until widespread support is available to the women in Afghanistan.
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We will continue to hear about Leila's and Miriam's
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who try to defend themselves against the culture intent
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on threatening them like a second class citizen.
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There's a lot to discuss about this issue. Even in Canada,
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here's some things to think about
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what can Canadians do to support the rights of women in Afghanistan.
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Is it easier for women to resist
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victimization in other countries compared to Afghanistan?
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And what kind of supports are available
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for women who resist victimization in Canada,
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our Canadian will be protected under the law.
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Thank you very much for listening.