Saudi Arabia's decision to "re-victimize" a woman who was brutally gang-raped shows us that, globally, women still have a ways to go in their quest for social justice.
If you're a woman and you're going to be raped, make sure it doesn't happen in Saudi Arabia. Depending on the circumstances, you might wind up with 200 lashes and sentenced to prison for six months. That is the fate of at least one Saudi Arabia woman sexually assaulted by a gang of rapists.
Here are the quick facts:
- The Saudi woman in question met with a man who was not her husband. Being married, her meeting with the man violated (Muslim) sharia law.
- While at this meeting, she and her companion were driven to a secluded spot and assaulted by a gang of rapists.
- Saudi officials sentenced the rapists to "up to 5 years in prison" and ordered that the woman receive 90 lashes.
- According to an article by the Associated Press, when the woman's lawyer appealed the ruling, "he was removed from the case, his license suspended and the penalty doubled to 200 [lashes]."
- In addition, the woman was sentenced to 6 months in prison for allegedly using the media to influence the courts.
- Saudi officials have justified the ruling and sentence as being according to the "book of God and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad."
This case is a tragic example of the ill treatment and denigration women suffer under radical Muslim regimes. Certainly, many women have, over the centuries, been treated harshly by "Christian" societies as well, but the Bible in no way justifies this. In fact, the denigration and ill treatment of women is totally inconsistent with biblical Christianity.
Let us hope, pray, and push for increased world attention to atrocities like what we're seeing in Saudi Arabia, so that women around the world can enjoy the justice, freedom, and equality that the Creator intended for them to have.
