Comment
Iranian case tells a few stories
by Michelle Minnoch

Yesterday, the charges were dropped against an Iranian girl who was sentenced to death for killing the man who had attempted to rape her.

Nazanin Fatehi, 19, was 17 at the time she stabbed to death one of the three men who were trying to rape her and her 17 year old cousin.

Due to Iran's laws regarding chastity, if Fatehi had allowed the rape of her and her cousin, the girls would have received 100 lashes; if they were married at the time of the rape, they would have been found guilty of adultery and would have faced death by stoning.

With the laws their government has set out, it is almost a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.

Not only would it be emotionally and even physically scarring, an attempted or carried out rape, but imagine if you were the victim of this heinous crime, and then had to pay a price for it? I know the saying, "Life isn't fair", but come on, this is more then that; it is unjustified, it is cruel and it will leave the women with a feeling of worthlessness. Sometimes a feeling of self worth is all you need to get through the day.

The case grabbed attention in Canada because former Miss Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam worked hard on the Fatehi case; she started an online campaign which received thousands of signatures.

Women in first world nations should take a hard look at this case and be thankful they live in a country that poses no penalty if you are the victim. Sure, if you killed someone in self defense, there would be an investigation and maybe a trial, but if you were raped, you are a victim only, not a guilty party.

While two of the five judges felt Fatehi should be freed unconditionally, three felt that although it was self defense, the girl should pay blood money to the family of the man she killed. Her bail is now set at $40,000 (US) (with the blood money pending) and Afshin-Jam has set up a website so people can donate to the cause at HelpNazanin.com.

There are tales of women all over this planet of ours, tales of unjust laws, unfair prejudices, and undignified rules of conduct.

When I hear of things going on in other countries, whether a case like this one, hearing about the Tsumani in Sri Lanka, or listening to the plight of grandmothers in Africa, who are left raising their grandchildren because the children's parents died of AIDS, I remember one thing; it is a luck of the draw that we are born and live where we are. We are lucky to live in a country that has respect and tolerance for all (although sometimes we find ourselves at the crossroads of certain issues).

You could have been born in Communist China, you could have been born a resident of Afghanistan, you have been born in a slum in a third world nation.

But you're weren't. Remember that.