"you want to go abroad, be a millionaire, get yourself raped"

this was a remark by the not so remarkable president of pakistan, musharraf. he was referring to the case of mukhtar mai who was gang raped on orders of the tribal council. She was invited to new york to talk about abuse of women in pakistan. president musharraf continued: "what i am objecting to is when pakistan is singled out. there is a problem with women's rights and rape and violence against women all over the world, every woman who is raped is not invited to new york."

yes, every woman who is raped is not invited to new york. but president musharraf should also be aware of the fact that if a woman is raped in pakistan, for a rapist to be convicted, his crime has to be confirmed by four adult male Muslim eyewitnesses, or the rapist must confess. if rape is reported to the police by a married woman in pakistan who doesn't have 4 witnesses, she's accused of adultery. that is, death by stoning. so president musharraf should be aware that every woman who is raped may not be invited to new york, but in the civilized world being a rape victim is not a crime and being a rape victim does not come with a death sentence by stoning.

apart from rape, 50% of all women in pakistan are physically battered and 80% of married women are victims of violence by their husbands.

and imagine: president musharraf many times has emphasized his commitment to women's rights... i guess he means women's rights to get raped and battered