I was shocked and disgusted when I read this today via Salon.  The extreme fundamentalist organization Al-Shabab which has much of Somalia under its rigid control  has become another example of an extremist group policing women for being women.

The group has been on the look-out for women wearing bras, which they believe are against the religion of Islam. After presumably stalking and finding the women with firmer breasts, the  Al-Shabab members have literally whipped the female “offenders” in public and forced them to “shake their breasts”. The bras, according to the members of the organization, are deceitful because they don’t accurately show a woman’s breasts and are therefore against the religion of Islam.

This is also one of the organizations that is on the prowl for women who are not wearing head scarves, which in my mind creates a crazy paradox. How is it even possible to imagine that a woman in a burkah is accurately portraying herself when she is literally forced to hide her hair as if it is a shameful thing? And, how could anyone possibly suggest that a woman without a bra on is somehow in violation of God’s law, especially in light of the unusually high level of modesty amongst Muslim women? This public humiliation is reprehensible.

The Al-Shabab do not limit their religious policing to the sisterhood and are also on the look-out for men without beards; some men told accounts of having their beards shaved off publicly after being beaten. The Al-Shabib’s punishments seem to be of the eye for an eye mentality as they have also been known to cut off a hand at the wrist for the crime of theft.  

According to the US, the group has loose ties to Al Queada, but as most of now realize, this is not necessarily the case. Sadly, it appears there is little the United States can do to limit the oppression of women in this situation.

Why is it so often that the “most pious” clerics, leaders, and church members in many religions are the most dictatorial and controlling of women? And, why is it that the women such as those who are in Somalia are the most down-trodden have the most challenging paths to face? For an interesting perspective on Somalian women in this situation, check out this article.