Posted on 10/26/2001 10:12:16 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 27, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- AP Special Correspondent
It's not hard finding customers. Yasmeen simply walks slowly through a stretch of the bazaar that's known as an area where women are bought and sold, just like the goods stacked in market stalls around them.
Yasmeen is an Afghan refugee, a mother of eight children, and knows of no way other than prostitution that she can feed her family. In Pakistan, the number of women like her is growing as the war in Afghanistan sends desperate refugees flooding across the border.
In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, prostitution is an offense punishable by death. Women convicted of selling sex have been publicly hanged by Taliban authorities, still clad in the all-enveloping burqas women are forced to wear.
Across the border, the price the women pay is more subtle: humiliation, fear, disease, and the knowledge that once this life is embarked upon, there is no turning back.
"I can never be anything else now," said Yasmeen, a plump, dark-eyed woman in her late 20s, who stroked the hair of her year-old baby boy as she talked. "This is the only life I have."
Although fearful, she agreed to be interviewed Friday after a series of contacts through intermediaries, on condition that her full name or other identifying details not be used.
During a meeting at the home of a friend in a poor district of the frontier city of Quetta, she continually glanced nervously through the half-open door at those passing on the street outside.
In Pakistan, a woman deemed to have dishonored her family - which could involve something as innocent as a perceived flirtation with a man - risks death at the hand of male relatives. That is particularly true in the country's conservative tribal belt, in which Quetta lies.
"In this respect, you could say that I am lucky," said Yasmeen with a short, bitter laugh. She is a war orphan, separated as a child from her parents in the chaos of the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan. She believes they are dead.
Yasmeen came to Pakistan as a child, but more recent refugees - some from the wave of those fleeing Afghanistan since American bombing began Oct. 7 - are providing fresh fodder for the sex trade, according to those who work in it.
A Pakistani madam, also interviewed on condition of anonymity, said several newly arrived Afghan women had made contact with her in the last several days, looking for work as prostitutes.
Working as a midwife in the border town of Chaman, she spread the word among refugee women that she could help them establish themselves in Quetta, she said. Soon, they began turning up at her door.
Yasmeen has been in business long enough that she has a small pool of steady customers, and thus can bypass dealings with a pimp who would take a large share of her earnings. If she needs more work, she goes to the bazaar - although that is dangerous.
She could be picked up by the police, or preyed upon by pimps who consider the area their territory. But finding a customer takes only moments: even heavily veiled, she can signal her availability by loitering in a certain part of the bazaar.
Men swiftly approach and say in Urdu, the most widely spoken language in Pakistan: "Let's go."
Her customers - she generally takes four or five a week, she says - pay her dlrs 8. She spends an hour with them, and the customer must provide the place.
Arriving in Pakistan orphaned and unprotected, Yasmeen said she was sold into sexual servitude at 12. She remembers her first experience with a man as violent and terrifying.
"I was very young, and very small," she said. "I could not understand what was happening to me."
Now she tries to think of sex as a simple transaction. Some longtime customers are kind to her, she says. But going with strangers still frightens her. Occasionally, they have beaten her or refused to pay.
Yasmeen lives as wife to a man who bought her 15 years ago from the one who first forced her into prostitution. He is jobless, disabled by a crippled right arm, and she supports the family. She believes all eight of her children are his, but cannot be sure.
"My conscience bothers me," she said with downcast eyes. "No one would choose this life. And someday my sons will grow up, and perhaps guess what I am."
The Pakistani madam takes a cooler view of things.
"She should be glad that she has work," she said of Yasmeen. "Now, there is lots of competition."
By LAURA KING
Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Forgive me, I don't watch Oprah, did she actually say this?
She must be dumber than I thought. But then anyone who lets that obnoxious creep, Dr. Phil on the show as much as she does, must have a problem of insight or perception. Check up on Dr. Phil through an article in the Dallas Observer. He's been prosecuted for sexual abuse of his women clients. He had to give up his license to practice psychotherapy in some state. He's an evil guy.
Shaving Pubic Hair
I am a recent convert and confused about shaving my pubic area. Does this mean that I should shave scrotum and the anal area also? Is plucking the hairs better than shaving? Is this also true for the under-arms? How often should I do this to these areas?
Reply
According to the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) every adult Muslim, as a part of keeping his/her body clean, should remove the hair on his pubic area and that which grows under his armpits. This hair may be removed through any method that one feels comfortable with. A person should not let this hair grow for more than (around) forty days, as has been reported in a number of narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh).
The ultmate objective of all Islamic teachings is to cleanse the human body, soul and mind. According to the Qur’an, only those people shall qualify for the everlasting bliss in the hereafter who try to cleanse themselves during the life of this world. It must be clearly understood that your question pertains to that part of Islamic teachings that relates with the cleansing of the human body, and therefore requires a cautious attitude on our part.
I hope this helps. In case any aspect of my answer remains unclear, please feel free in writing back to me.
May Allah guide us all to the path of His liking.
Regards and prayers.
(but please note the font spec for the article is "Comic Sans")
This Mohammed guy's laws are ludicrous..... what did they use before steel razors you gotta wonder.
We know that US Marines have a stricture about the clean shaven face. Okay, so every AM the Marines break out a Gillete and shave their faces real smooth.... But these oh so mighty Taliban warriors we are at war with -you know, the ones living in Ashcani filth and dust and camel manure- have to pull over real regular like and drop their pants to shave up. LOL. Do the NCOs 'inspect' their troops?
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