Kuwaiti Transgender Woman’s Video Sparks Worldwide Solidarity

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

As Maha al-Mutairi, a 39-year-old Kuwaiti transgender woman, made her way to a police station last Friday night, she decided to post a video. Maha had been summoned by authorities for “imitating women” – the fourth time she has faced this charge this year. In the video she posted, she said the police had raped her and beat her senseless while she was detained in a male prison for seven months in 2019, for “imitating the opposite sex.”

During her detention in a police cell over the weekend, Maha’s lawyer, Shaikha Salmeen, said that in an attempt to break Maha’s spirit, police had told her: “People all over Kuwait are rallying against you.” They could not have been more wrong. Instead, Maha’s video sparked an international wave of solidarity on social media, with hundreds of activists mobilizing their connections, resources, and funds to protest her detention and ensure justice for Maha.

It worked. Maha was released on Monday night without charge. Her lawyer says Maha endured abuse during her three days in detention, including being spat on, verbally abused, and sexually assaulted by police officers who took turns touching her breasts.

In 2012, Human Rights Watch documented the negative effects on the lives of transgender women of a 2007 Kuwaiti law – an amendment to Article 198 of the penal code – which arbitrarily criminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.” Transgender women have reported multiple forms of abuse at the hands of the police while in detention, including degrading and humiliating treatment, such as being forced to strip and being paraded around police stations, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, solitary confinement, and emotional and physical abuse that could amount to torture.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/10/kuwaiti-transgender-womans-video-sparks-worldwide-solidarity

Emphasis added.

 

[ruby sparks]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

I would have the deepest respect if she manages to remain an activist (even if that wasn't her goal in life) in Kuwait, but I hope she manages to get out. Though admittedly, that does little for all those who can't. In the video, she talked about trying to leave, but it sounds like she was not permitted. What combination of things go wrong in human psychology that we become so keen to waste human potential and life.

 

[Axulus]

“People all over Kuwait are rallying against you.” They could not have been more wrong. Instead, Maha’s video sparked an international wave of solidarity on social media, with hundreds of activists mobilizing their connections, resources, and funds to protest her detention and ensure justice for Maha.

The "They could not have been more wrong" doesn't follow. International wave of solidarity does not equal wave of solidarity from other Kuwaitis, or mean that there are not many Kuwaitis rallying against her.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

“People all over Kuwait are rallying against you.” They could not have been more wrong. Instead, Maha’s video sparked an international wave of solidarity on social media, with hundreds of activists mobilizing their connections, resources, and funds to protest her detention and ensure justice for Maha.

The "They could not have been more wrong" doesn't follow. International wave of solidarity does not equal wave of solidarity from other Kuwaitis, or mean that there are not many Kuwaitis rallying against her.

You are being too literal. They were wrong because they focused on Kuwait as being the most important.

 

[Metaphor]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

You keep repeating this in different threads. Why?

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

I understand you are being sarcastic. It's an interesting [reverse] point you've made, though, from this example.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I would have the deepest respect if she manages to remain an activist (even if that wasn't her goal in life) in Kuwait, but I hope she manages to get out. Though admittedly, that does little for all those who can't. In the video, she talked about trying to leave, but it sounds like she was not permitted. What combination of things go wrong in human psychology that we become so keen to waste human potential and life.

Some kind of lust for power over another in combination with being manipulated mentally and living in a religious conservative echo chamber, I guess?

 

[Metaphor]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

I understand you are being sarcastic. It's an interesting [reverse] point you've made, though, from this example.

I am not being sarcastic. I don't understand what you think the quote means and why you keep repeating it.

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

I understand you are being sarcastic. It's an interesting [reverse] point you've made, though, from this example.

I am not being sarcastic. I don't understand what you think the quote means and why you keep repeating it.

Are you having an identity crisis? He wasn't responding to you, and he didn't post that quote in this thread. The line is a statement attributed to Maya Forstater.

 

[Metaphor]

Are you having an identity crisis? He wasn't responding to you, and he didn't post that quote in this thread.

Yes, he did post it in this thread. In post #2. It's right there. It's what I quoted with the 'quote' function.

The line is a statement attributed to Maya Forstater.

Well, okay, but what does ruby think it means, and why does he keep repeating it?

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

Are you having an identity crisis? He wasn't responding to you, and he didn't post that quote in this thread.

Yes, he did post it in this thread. In post #2. It's right there. It's what I quoted with the 'quote' function.

No, ruby sparks posted the quote. Don2 stated it was sarcastic. You are, hopefully, neither of those people.

The line is a statement attributed to Maya Forstater.

Well, okay, but what does ruby think it means, and why does he keep repeating it?

I'm sure ruby will clarify at some point. I interpret it as a criticism of the quoted material in light of the story and the video. Don2 appears to have read it the same way.

 

[Metaphor]

No, ruby sparks posted the quote.

Yes, I know. That's who I quoted. In post #2. ruby sparks. Quoting the line he's used elsewhere. So I asked him what he meant by it. ruby sparks. in post #2. where i quoted him.

I'm sure ruby will clarify at some point. I interpret it as a criticism of the quoted material in light of the story and the video. Don2 appears to have read it the same way.

Sure, but in what way is it criticism of that material, and how does the posted story invoke that criticism?

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

Yes, I know. That's who I quoted. In post #2. ruby sparks. Quoting the line he's used elsewhere. So I asked him what he meant by it. ruby sparks. in post #2. where i quoted him.

I am aware. That is also who Don2 quoted when he made the comment re. sarcasm.

Sure, but in what way is it criticism of that material, and how does the posted story invoke that criticism?

The idea that there is no material aspect to gender identity seems starkly contrasted with the case of an individual who ultimately resigns herself to harassment from police, arrest, and subsequently abuse due to an utter inability to change. That's the most obvious interpretation.

 

[Metaphor]

The idea that there is no material aspect to gender identity seems starkly contrasted with the case of an individual who ultimately resigns herself harassment from police, arrest, and subsequently abuse due to an utter inability to change. That's the most obvious interpretation.

I don't understand what is supposed to be strange about the quote, though I guess it hinges on what you mean by 'material aspect'. All thoughts, including thoughts about gender identity, come from the brain, so in that respect gender identity has a material aspect like any other thought.

But surely what Forstater means is that thoughts about your sex do not change your sex and are not part of your sex, which seems perfectly reasonable to me.

 

[krypton iodine sulfur]

I don't understand what is supposed to be strange about the quote, though I guess it hinges on what you mean by 'material aspect'.

Forstater means sex. She necessarily excludes innate gender identity from the 'material reality' consideration.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

A man’s internal feeling that he is a woman has no basis in material reality. Apparently.

I understand you are being sarcastic. It's an interesting [reverse] point you've made, though, from this example.

I am not being sarcastic. I don't understand what you think the quote means and why you keep repeating it.

I'm sorry? Was this directed to ruby sparks, Metaphor, or you?

 

[Metaphor]

I am not being sarcastic. I don't understand what you think the quote means and why you keep repeating it.

I'm sorry? Was this directed to ruby sparks, Metaphor, or you?

It was directed at ruby sparks, and I thought he had replied to me, but it was you. I made a mistake.

 

[ruby sparks]

A person was apparently harassed, imprisoned, repeatedly raped, groped, beaten senseless and spat on. It's to some people's credit that they are able to focus on the more important issues instead.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

A person was apparently harassed, imprisoned, repeatedly raped, groped, beaten senseless and spat on. It's to some people's credit that they are able to focus on the more important issues instead.

You are completely right. This is really why I created the thread in the first place. The forum constantly sees anti-trans activist inspired threads over pretty much nothing, like anecdotes of someone saying something extreme or an actress did something or whatever. Meanwhile, when we really look at lives of trans persons, the problems they face are way more significant than that kind of drama. I'll add that the political world itself often focuses on the wrong issues. I've said it before. We ought to focus on things in a prioritized way that starts with risk, such as severity and probability of the potential thing under discussion. When we look at this particular issue from the op, we're talking risk of death and if not rape and sexual assault, violence, removal of rights. Those are all severe things. When we consider it's not just one person that it goes beyond merely Kuwait to encompass a world that is vastly anti-trans, it's important that we are aware of it, ought to probably discuss the mechanisms involved, how to fight it even, but certainly we ought not get mired down by drama either in this thread or in others. Wrong focus.

As far as what I think we ought to do, I will re-post bullet points from the Merci Mack thread:

• Educating against homophobia and transphobia across the board is helpful.
• Reducing economic inequality is also helpful to reduce all homicides, not just trans women homicides.
• Improving healthcare by increasing access and quality across the board reduces the problem.
• Removing barriers and discrimination against trans women also reduces the problem so that they are not ending up in high risk situations. That includes stopping promoting a hierarchy where trans women are at the bottom, calling them mentally ill and mocking them and their identities.
• Educating against conservative and fundamentalist religions as well as keeping separation of church and state and promoting secularism is also very helpful to vulnerable persons.

I'd like to hear from others constructively on how else to reduce these types of problems.

In this particular case of the very concrete op, it's about an individual in Kuwait. Conservative, fundamentalist religion plays a role. In my opinion, religion itself is largely neutral, like say a hammer. It is often used for good or evil. Fundamentalist religion is more strict, more confining and that is for more control by those in control of it...the thing most religions are used for. It's always men in charge of these conservative, fundamentalist religions and there are always many men who suffer by having to serve the hierarchy. They may obey because they have a known, stable place within the hierarchy, where they have relative benefit above women and if anyone gets out of line, there are consequences. "Acting as the opposite sex" is disruptive to the rules of the hierarchy and if these societies start allowing such things, it is a slippery slope to freedom of the whole society...a rejection of the creation story. Why men's rights activists are against speaking out against conservatives isn't beyond me at all--it is because most of the time MRAs are full of shit, actually conservatives themselves and if not, aligned to them...the movement is mostly conservatives griping and so any individual MRA who starts speaking out against patriarchy and conservatives will lose their in-group political capital. This is not to say, mind you, that so-called MRAs won't sometimes criticize the Middle East, and in particular Christian-conservative-aligned MRAs will often criticize countries that the US is about to bomb, never mind how many hundreds of thousands of men that might kill.

The following is from a 2017 Human Rights Watch report on Kuwait:

Kuwaiti personal status law, which applies to Sunni Muslims, the majority of Kuwaitis, discriminates against women. For instance, some women require a male guardian to conclude her marriage contract; women must apply to the courts for a divorce on limited grounds unlike men who can unilaterally divorce their wives; and women can lose custody of their children if they remarry someone outside the family. The rules that apply to Shia Muslims also discriminate against women.

Kuwait has no laws prohibiting domestic violence or marital rape. A 2015 law establishing family courts set up a center to deal with domestic violence cases, but requires the center to prioritize reconciliation over protection for domestic violence survivors. Article 153 of the Kuwaiti penal code stipulates that a man who finds his mother, wife, sister or daughter in the act of adultery and kills them is punished by either a small fine or no more than three years in prison.

Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, unlike Kuwaiti men, cannot pass citizenship to their children or spouses.

Adultery and extramarital intercourse are criminalized, and same-sex relations between men are punishable by up to seven years in prison. Transgender people can be arrested under a 2007 penal code provision that prohibits “imitating the opposite sex in any way.”

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/kuwait#

From a 2012 article:

Transgender women reported suffering multiple forms of abuse at the hands of the police while in detention, including degrading and humiliating treatment, such as being forced to strip and being paraded around the police station, being forced to dance for officers, sexual humiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, solitary confinement, and emotional and physical abuse that could amount to torture. Redress for these violations is difficult, as few said they reported incidents of police misconduct because of threats of retribution and re-arrest.

In one case, a transgender woman told Human Rights Watch that after police arrested her and two of her friends, they took a trash can full of dirt and cigarette butts and dumped it over her friend’s head. Another friend was forced to do push-ups with a radiator on her back. In another, a transgender woman who was arrested with another person reported that police punched and kicked her brutally and beat her friend with a heavy stapler.

“The Kuwaiti authorities should ensure proper monitoring of police behavior”, said Whitson. “They should also investigate unchecked police abuse, hold those found guilty accountable for their actions, and make sure that vulnerable populations, such as transgenders, have access to mechanisms of redress without fear of retribution.”

In several cases, Human Rights Watch found that police officers took advantage of the law to blackmail transgender women into sex. Transgender women claimed that police used the threat of arrest to force them into sex, and that sexual abuse at the hands of the police has been rampant. Transgender women said that before the law, while sexual advances by the police were commonplace, they could decline such advances, whereas now police had leeway to imprison them if they refused.

Despite an official recognition of gender identity disorder (GID) by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health as a legitimate medical condition, the law criminalizing “imitating the opposite sex” makes no exception for people who have been diagnosed with GID. The law leaves them at the mercy of officers in an unmonitored police force who transgender women said have refused to recognize, and sometimes have even torn up, medical reports and GID diagnoses that transgender women present to them upon arrest.

Under international law, Kuwait has an obligation to ensure the protection of its residents from arbitrary arrest or detention. Criminalizing an individual’s gender expression and identity violates the right to non-discrimination, equality before the law, free expression, personal autonomy, physical integrity, and privacy. Kuwait is also a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, under which sexual violence committed by police officers acting in an official capacity constitutes torture.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/15/kuwait-end-police-abuses-against-transgender-women

Photo of Maha al-Mutairi: