Persecution of women

Quran:

Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend
[for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the
husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear
arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But
if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand. 4:34

And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses
grief. He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep
it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide. For those who do not
believe in the Hereafter is the description of evil; and for Allah is the highest attribute. And He is Exalted
in Might, the Wise. 16:58-60

And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked for what sin she was killed 81:8-9

And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way
17:32

But let them who find not [the means for] marriage abstain [from sexual relations] until Allah enriches
them from His bounty. And those who seek a contract [for eventual emancipation] from among whom
your right hands possess - then make a contract with them if you know there is within them goodness
and give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given you. And do not compel your slave girls to
prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek [thereby] the temporary interests of worldly life. And if
someone should compel them, then indeed, Allah is [to them], after their compulsion, Forgiving and
Merciful. 24:33

And whoever among you cannot [find] the means to marry free, believing women, then [he may marry]
from those whom your right hands possess of believing slave girls. And Allah is most knowing about your
faith. You [believers] are of one another. So marry them with the permission of their people and give
them their due compensation according to what is acceptable. [They should be] chaste, neither [of]
those who commit unlawful intercourse randomly nor those who take [secret] lovers. But once they are
sheltered in marriage, if they should commit adultery, then for them is half the punishment for free
[unmarried] women. This [allowance] is for him among you who fears sin, but to be patient is better for
you. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. 4:25

Hadith:

Hadith quoted in Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-Id-Din, Marriage section:

“The most perfect of believers in faith are those who are the finest in manners and most gentle toward
their wives.”
In Sahih Al Bukkhari (Part 1, Hadith No. 28) we read, "Women are ungrateful to their husbands and are
ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds done them). If you have always been good
(benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking) she will say, "I have
never received any good from you"

In Sahih Al Bukhari (Part 7, Hadith No. 113) it is stated "The woman is like a rib; if you try to straighten
her, she will break. So if you want to get benefit from her, do so while she still has some crookedness."
This Hadith has been agreed upon

Abu Dawud, Book 11, Number 2137:

Narrated Mu'awiyah al-Qushayri:
Mu'awiyah asked: Apostle of Allah, what is the right of the wife of one of us over him? He replied: That
you should give her food when you eat, clothe her when you clothe yourself, do not strike her on the
face, do not revile her or separate yourself from her except in the house.

Muslim, Book 009, Number 3527:

Fatima bint Qais reported: My husband Abu 'Amr b. Hafs b. al-Mughira sent 'Ayyish b. Abu Rabi'a to me
with a divorce, and he also sent through him five si's of dates and five si's of barley. I said: Is there no
maintenance allowance for me but only this, and I cannot even spend my 'Idda period in your house? He
said: No. She said: I dressed myself and came to Allah's Messenger. He said: How many pronouncements
of divorce have been made for you? I said: Three. He said what he ('Ayyish b. Abu Rabi'a) had stated was
true. There is no maintenance allowance for you. Spend 'Idda period in the house of your cousin, Ibn
Umm Maktum. He is blind and you can put off your garment in his presence. And when you have spent
your Idda period, you inform me. She said: Mu'awiya and Abu'l-Jahm were among those who had given
me the proposal of marriage. Thereupon Allah's Apostle said: Mu'awiya is destitute and in poor
condition and Abu'l-Jahm is very harsh with women (or he beats women), you should take Usama b.
Zaid (as your husband).

Abu Dawud, Book 1, Number 0142:

Narrated Laqit ibn Sabirah:
I (the narrator Laqit) then said: Messenger of Allah, I have a wife who has something (wrong) in her
tongue, i.e. she is insolent. He said: Then divorce her. I said: Messenger of Allah, she had company with
me and I have children from her. He said: Then ask her (to obey you). If there is something good in her,
she will do so (obey); and do not beat your wife as you beat your slave-girl.

Quotes:

No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of
evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the
houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women
have to live.”
― Muhammad Ali Jinnah
“There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great
competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the
women.”
― Muhammad Ali Jinnah

“I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot
succeed when half of us are held back.”
― Malala Yousafzai

“Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so
brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman
selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a
lost novelist, a suppressed poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Bronte who
dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture
that her gift had put her to. Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems
without signing them, was often a woman.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Prejudice is a disease. And when they come for you, or refuse your worth, I will be ready for their
stones. I belong to you.”
― Lady Gaga

“I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”
― Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and
to no city”
― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

“A state that does not educate and train women is like a man who only trains his right arm.”
― Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World

Data and Statistics:

Global data:

Bride-burning accounts for the death of at least 1 woman every hour in India.

(The sudney morning herald: http://www.smh.com.au/world/india-burning-brides-and-ancient-practice-

is-on-the-rise-20150115-12r4j1.html )
Around one third of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate
partner or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives.

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/chapter6/chapter6.html

100 women had been killed or were the victims of attempted murder in family and domestic violence-
related homicides over the past 12 months, and nearly 1.5m women in Australia had experienced sexual
assault since the age of 15.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/28/coalition-to-unveil-carve-up-of-30m-in-domestic-
violence-legal-assistance

Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18, primarily in South Asia
(31.3 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (14.1 million).

Estimated 800,000 people trafficked across national borders annually, with the majority (79 percent)
trafficked for sexual exploitation. In Europe 60 % of women had experienced sexual violence before
being trafficked.

Between 15 and 76 percent of women are targeted for physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime,
according to the available country data.

In Guatemala, two women are murdered, on average, each day.

In India, 8,093 cases of dowry-related death were reported in 2007; an unknown number of murders of
women and young girls were falsely labeled ‘suicides’ or ‘accidents’.

In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, between 40 and 70 percent of female
murder victims were killed by their intimate partners.

In the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, 66 percent of murders of women were committed by husbands,
boyfriends or other family members.

http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/299-fast-facts-statistics-on-violence-against-women-and-girls-
.html

Pakistani data:

The HRCP reported 987 honour crimes in 2015, with 1,096 female victims.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rampant-violence-against-women-in-pakistan-
revealed-as-groups-fight-un-islamic-law-against-domestic-a6969311.html

General overview of number of cases of VAW as reported by HRCP:

Sexual violence 2004-2016: 4734

Honor crimes (men & women) 2004-2016: 15222

Burning cases 2004-2016: 1535

Domestic violence against women 2004-2016: 1843

Suicide 2004-2016: 35935

Women kidnapping 2004-2016: 5508

Punjab taking the lead in all crimes of violence against women.

http://www.whiteribbon.org.pk/what-we-do/programs/violence-against-women-in-pakistan/alarming-
statistics-about-violence-against-women/

The first ever Gender Parity Report for the province states 5, 391 cases of violence against women had
been reported in the province in 2012. The number of cases reported in 2015 were 6, 505. It says that in
2015, 173 women were killed in honour-based crimes.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1060669/violence-against-women-has-increased-report/

Earlier this year the Punjab Provincial Assembly passed the Punjab Protection of Women Against
Violence Act 2016 - See more at: http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/news-and-
events/stories/2016/07/ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-in-pakistan#sthash.UW4MFFPj.dpuf

At least 4,308 cases of violence against women and girls were reported for the first six months of
2015.The figure included 709 cases of murder; 596 of rape and gang rape; 36 of sexual assault; 186 of
so-called “honour” crimes; and 1,020 of kidnapping.