After the Taliban swept through Afghanistan, seizing control – Afghan women looked on in horror – knowing their difficulties would increase.
Young women were forced to marry, pregnant women were forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions, and all women were forced to do as they were told – go where they were told– and become what they were told.
While women continue to be persecuted throughout the Middle East – Christians in these countries desperately need your immediate intercessory prayer.
Iran
Across the Middle East, subjugation of women is evident throughout numerous cultures.
In Iran, a woman must wear a hijab, whether she wants to or not.
Many Iranian women, tired of wearing compulsory clothing, revolted by removing their head garb. This action resulted in imprisonment and beatings.
International Christian Concern (ICC) reported:
“Time and time again, Iranian women revolt [sic]against the government by publicly stripping the garment off their heads, to the point where the government took extreme measures and implemented prison sentences, fines or flagellation.”
And for Christian women – deemed as a “moral threat” to society, simply for believing in the name of Jesus – penalties are more severe.
While both non-Christian and Christian women are treated poorly in Iran – Christian women are tormented more severely.
ICC continued:
“A woman shares her personal testimony on the matter, saying, ‘My heart is really breaking for the women there, especially when they become Christian. They go through extreme persecution and experience such poverty. No one is helping them.’”
Egypt
Egyptian authorities have made it clear that women don’t have a voice.
When one woman took to social media, publicly stating she had been raped, instead of arresting or investigating the guy who assaulted her – she was arrested for “violating public morals.”
Likewise, other women who simply use social media as a platform to share concerns or grievances – or even just as a place to talk – found themselves arrested.
Human Rights Watch reported:
“Arresting women and girls on very vague grounds simply for posting videos and photos of themselves on social media sites is discriminatory and directly violates their right to free expression,” said Rothna Begum, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Policing women’s peaceful conduct online smacks of a new effort to control women’s use of public spaces.”
But what about the violent criminals who are hurting women?
Many walk free – especially those who harm Christians.
Three men were acquitted after stripping down an elderly Coptic Christian woman and dragging her through the streets to humiliate her.
Horrific.
Jesus Values Women
God is clear through His Word that He values the dignity and honor of women.
Any society treating women as second-class citizens will be held accountable by the justice of God – if not in this lifetime, certainly in the next.
We must continue to intercede and pray for our Christian sisters – and all women around the world who are oppressed.
May they come to know their value in who God created them to be, and not lose heart even though some try to take away their dignity.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17
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