Muslim women

My daughter is active in a group supporting a film called, “Honor Diaries” which is about the mistreatment of women in various cultures around the world. As I watch the recent uproar over The President’s remarks about Islam and Christianity, I see the reporting as missing an important difference. While most are aware of the beheadings and burning alive episodes many are not aware of the everyday activities of most of these groups. In many Muslim countries and a few Hindu areas a procedure called female genital mutilation is a common practice. In these same countries women are treated with such disrespect it borders on slavery. They have no voting rights, no property rights and forced marriage is an everyday thing. These are not acts carried out by some extremist groups but by mainstream Muslims. Two daughters of the new King of Saudi Arabia have been under house arrest for years for demanding rights for women. While recent atrocities have awakened the general public, most people are unaware of these acceptable cultural practices. It is time for these people to move up into the 21st century