Chibok Girls

[Howl]

I'm posting this here because it so strongly reflects on the horrible damage inflicted by purity culture, wherever in the world it may be. 

Chibok Girls refers to the 279 high school girls abducted from their Nigerian village by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram in April 2014.  21 of the girls have been released recently by Boko Haram and reunited with their families, but this is not a story with a totally happy ending for both the girls who have been released and those still held:    

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Pogu Bitrus, chairman of the Chibok Development Association, said more than 100 others appeared unwilling to leave their captors. 

He said they were ashamed to return home because they were forced to marry extremists and have their babies.

Mr Bitrus said the freed girls have told their parents they were separated into two groups early on in their captivity, when Boko Haram commanders gave them the choice of joining the extremists and embracing Islam, or becoming their slaves.

The latter group - made up of 104 girls - never saw their classmates again. 

Mr Bitrus said they were used as domestic workers and porters but were not sexually abused. That group contain the 21 who were released last week and the 83 who the government are negotiating over....Mr Bitrus: 'We would prefer that they are taken away from the community and this country because the stigmatisation is going to affect them for the rest of their lives. 'Even someone believed to have been abused by Boko Haram would be seen in a bad light.'

Chibok is a small and conservative Christian enclave in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, where many parents are involved in translating the Bible into local languages and belong to the Nigerian branch of the Elgin, IL-based Church of the Brethren, an evangelical church based in the United States.

You can read the full text of this article in the Daily Mail here.  There are many pictures of families of the girls and the girls being united with their parents, who looked overjoyed to be reunited with their daughters.  

Of the original group of abductees, dozens escaped early on.  Today's article in my news paper noted that: 

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even if they were held only a few hours, they were labeled "Boko Haram wives" and taunted...At least 20 of the girls are being educated in the United States. 

This information that Chibok village is conservative Christian and that the parents of my of the kidnapped girls are affiliated with The Brethren  was new to me.  That the girls would be taunted and considered impure from being held by Boko Haram for even a few hours is just horrible; even more horrible is that girls being repatriated may not be able to live in their home village because they are considered tainted, and even more horrible than that, girls who were forced into "marriage" are too ashamed to return home.  This is tragedy on top of tragedy on top of tragedy.   I'm not able to determine if the village culture is such that it isn't feasible for the girls to continue to live there, if it is The Brethren or who would be so horrible to innocent girls. 

If anyone has more detailed information on this situation, please post up.  Most of the links that I saw were just the original article with slight variations. 

ETA: I had assumed that Chibok "village" was indeed a small village of maybe several thousand people and possibly it is, but from the Chibok wiki: 

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Chibok is a Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, located in the north of the state. Its headquarters are in the town of Chibok. It has an area of 1,350 km² and a population of 66,105 at the 2006 census.

The town of Chibok is primarily a Christian village with a Muslim minority.

 

 

[Lurky]

My heart is with these poor girls and young women, and I hope they're ok.

[Kariina]

I had no idea they were associated with conservative Christianity. It hurts to think about the abuse and shame they've had to endure from both ends of this tragedy.

[LadyCrow1313]

I was happy to hear that some of the girls have been released (& that some had escaped, too). I know this'll sound naïve, but I truly hope they don't get put through the wringer more than they are.

Blessings & love to them all.

[Carm_88]

That's heartbreaking. Bad enough to be taken and held like that but now to be taunted? So much for do unto others as you will have done unto you.