Female Education- It's About Humanity and Basic Human Rights

I am absolutely horrified by the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls seized from a school last month by the Boko Haram (translated as "Western education is sinful"). You can read the update from the New York Times HERE, which reported that at least 8 more girls have been seized. The goal is to 1) terrorize parents to stop sending their girls to school, and 2) exploit and sell the kidnapped girls.

It makes my blood boil thinking about these atrocities committed in the name of religion. Such abuses (both in terms of the kidnappings, and using religion to justify them) make me absolutely livid.



THIS ARTICLE on the Foreign Policy website is a concise and insightful article about the situation. As the article points out, we are unfortunately still stuck in the "women and children are spoils of war" mentality. Have we not gone past that? Apparently not.
Now, I don't think this is the sole reason why the media has only recently focused more attention on this story, but I do believe it is one reason why it hadn't receive sufficient coverage earlier.
Or sadly, we are a society that has become so numbed by news on war, and more enticed by trivial (and frankly, not as depressing) video clips/ twitters/ social media, that such news doesn't shock us anymore.

What saddens me, however, is that the roots of this "war of terror" on "the West" is so baseless in the very first place. I understand that not everything from the "West" is beneficial. I grew up in Singapore, a fairly Westernized nation compared to many other Asian countries, and have lived in the United States for almost seven years, and still there are certain Western "liberal" concepts and values that I am uncomfortable with. However, my Western education has also been a tremendous source of ideas and information that has broadened my worldview, and challenged me think beyond my mental boundaries. At the very least, it's made me more understanding of people who come from a different set of values and culture.
To say that "Western education is sinful" is to be too extreme and intransigent. And to blame the West for more progressive ideas about educating females? That's a fallacy right there. It's not about "clash of civilizations/ cultures/ religion" when you provide formal education for girls. It's about humanity and basic human rights.

Even if you disagree with such notions about female education, inflicting violence is hardly a viable solution. I can't even imagine the terror felt by the kidnapped girls and their families, and I feel their heartbreak as their chances of rescue grow dimmer everyday.



Praying for the safe return of these girls to their families.