Posted by Sharia law, as practised by millions of Muslims worldwide, is not a legal definition in any formal sense of the word but a set of cultural and religious guidelines rooted in patriarchal control. In places like Pakistan, where over 1,000 women are slaughtered each year in so-called “honour” killings, local religious figures typically act as judge, jury, and executioner. The notion of murdering a daughter for refusing to bed some decrepit old fossil is fundamentally at odds with modern values of individual autonomy and dignity. Women are frequently treated as chattels, their worth tied to dowries or compliance, and punished severely for any perceived resistance. For many young women, the prospect of a life bound to some 70-year-old codger is unbearable, leading some to choose suicide or seek comfort in relationships of their own choosing – choices that too often result in their death. The right to divorce some misogynistic ape is enshrined in our laws but not so under Sharia Law. Public stonings are a grim reality for those living under the thumb, with family members often participating in these barbaric acts. Having witnessed one such execution – an 18-year-old girl killed for becoming pregnant – I was left trembling with rage, and the impulse to scream, “STOP” was so overwhelming I had to walk away. That experience proved to be a catalyst for most of my humanitarian work after I left Saudi. Working alongside French Secret Service agent Herve Jaubert, I was involved in the release of Princess Latifa and co-wrote a book on her attempts to escape from Dubai, which has subsequently been banned. In that book, I made no secret of my abhorrence of the culture Princess Latifa grew up in and the behaviour of her father, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. But more poignantly, seeing women here in Dublin shrouded in restrictive clothing, stripped of their individuality and right to freedom of expression, evokes a deep sense of injustice. This notion that a woman showing her face might attract unwanted attention is so infantile I sometimes wonder why they don’t wheel them around in cardboard boxes. That twisted logic is what has led to so many assaults on European women. The Muslim view that scantily clad women are mere prostitutes and are asking to be raped is why these men should never be tolerated in any civilised society. This outspoken criticism of Sharia has led to threats against my life, but sure, so what? Those who threaten me with violence have no idea what they’re dealing with. I’m well accustomed to dealing with thugs.
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Who Watches the Watchers? 