More Sex in the Middle East

I don't have any current links for you, but there have been problems in Jordan and Syria with honor killings. If I remember correctly, there are something like a dozen to 20 cases a year of honor killings in these two countries. Usually it happens when a young woman meets a man and either has sex with him, or marries him against her family's wishes. In Islam, a lot of honor revolves around a woman's virginity. So when a woman loses that in a dishonorable manner - whether of her own accord or by rape - there are repercussions, because it reflects badly on the family. To regain their honor, the family must kill her. Many women try to flee when their family finds out, because they fear for their lives. There are even cases where sisters and aunts have helped lure a young woman to her death to help out the family honor. One young woman even went to jail after she fled. I wanted to point this out to illustrate another point in the article on Rape in Saudi Arabia. I believe there's this fear that if men and women mingle, who knows what might be going on, hence the law against mingling. So if someone breaks that law, there may be the feeling that the couple involved were intending to be up to something. Otherwise, why would they break the law? This just further complicates the issue.