This just in. A 10 year old girl just gave birth in Columbia. But the police can't do a damn thing to the father because... wait for it... it's some kind of tradition in that tribe and we have to respect and be polite to their backwatered ways of life. I don't care how politically incorrect this sound, I don't care if it's your tribal tradition or whatever. If it doesn't make sense, then screw your traditions.
'Screw your traditions': I'm sure there are people in the Arab world who say that kind of thing about us.
What to do? Do we allow the tribes to govern themselves or do we force our governance upon them? In this case it appears that the tribe is allowed to use communal medical care, so an argument could be raised that they should follow the communal laws.
Do you know much about the history of the Wayuu people's relationship with the Colombians? The Colombians I believe have used force against them in the past. The current self-governance regulations seem to be in place as a compromise to avoid further unnecessary conflict. I can't find anything concrete, but I saw an article on the web somewhere that alleges that paramilitary forces have engaged with the Wayuu as recently as 2003.
If we force them to abide by Colombian laws then there is the risk of a violent reaction.
And what if the women of the Wayuu are retrospectively comfortable with the way relationships are governed in their society? It is difficult to change a culture of oppression when the oppressed willingly don their chains.
From what I can tell, marriages of young girls is common. A practice that is meant to insure the virginity of the bride belongs to the husband. To police this would require criminalizing tens of thousands of men. This is not something that is trivial to carry out.
I do agree, however, that the emancipation of women, is something that benefits every society it happens with - and that without it women are routinely exploited (and yes I appreciate that even with it exploitation can occur).
Can we change the culture of child abuse? Is this best done by arresting thousands of men? Would arresting only those men whose wives seek medical care be a good idea, or would that simply result in more children dying as no medical attention is sought?
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