Man’s inhumanity to (wo)man

Picture this: fifty grown men throwing rocks at a helpless 13 year old girl until she is dead.

  

This is a perfectly legitimate punishment sanctioned by law in Somalia, reported recently.

 

The girl said she was raped by three men. She was stoned on the charge of adultery.

 

In a country with strict Sharia Law can you imagine a thirteen year old girl with the wherewithal or the opportunity to seduce a man into committing adultery?

 

It is awful enough to contemplate the suffering of the girl having been sexually abused in this way, but to have that suffering turned into her crime is a gross injustice.

 

Across the world there are still societies where women are not only considered less important than men, but are subjugated, oppressed and abused at the hands of men.

 

Here in the western world how far have we really come in accepting that being human is the true levelling factor? Have we eliminated discrimination on the grounds of gender? What about race or sexual orientation?

 

Where there is inequality there is oppression. Where humans are not afforded equal rights there is injustice.

 

Just how many steps are there between thinking that a man’s opinion is more important than a woman’s (still common here in the UK), to a society dominated by men; who will stone a woman to death for adultery?

 

Incidentally I read of a study recently that looked into the most painful ways to die. Death by stoning came out top.

 

To read the full news story see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7708169.stm

 

A Quiet Revolution in Wallington

I hate supermarket shopping. I am the mad woman wandering the aisles muttering,

“Over packaged!”

“Overpriced!”

“It’s been shipped from where?”

 

Saturday morning shopping is the worst of all as the local Sainsbury’s is full of other disgruntled shoppers all feeling resentful that they can only get to the supermarket when it is at its busiest. 

 

However this Saturday when I reached the checkouts I was overcome with a warm glow as I surveyed my fellow shoppers. At checkout after checkout I could see old fashioned shopping bags sitting in trolleys; reusable bags; canvass bags; cloth bags everywhere. This is new; it hasn’t always been this way.

  

 

Sainsbury’s has recently done away with its policy of having piles of thin disposable plastic bags on the checkout, and now you need to ask for them. They still have plenty available, but it serves as a reminder to shoppers to remember to reuse their bags. And how the residents of Wallington have embraced this idea! A little nudge from the supermarket and our shoppers have risen to the challenge.  

 

You had to be there to realise just how many people had brought their own bags, it was amazing. 

 

Back in January this year Full Council had supported a motion proposed by Sean Brennan, the leader of the Council, to encourage the major supermarkets in Sutton to review their packaging policies, and to seek a reduction in the use of disposable shopping bags. 

 

What I have learnt here in Wallington is just how strongly residents support these aims, and are prepared to make changes in their own habits on the basis of principles. This quiet revolution in Wallington goes to show that individual actions can make a difference, and set a good example for others to follow.  

 

Well done to Sainsbury’s for their bravery in making the change, but most of all hurrah for the people of Wallington for showing that a community can make a difference.