EP52: How One Woman Fought Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws

Rafya is a Pakistani woman who was married off at seventeen. After enduring years of mistreatment and abuse, she finally gathered up the courage to leave her husband, but this came with a cost: he ripped their three-year-old daughter from her arms. When Rafya tried to get her back, he registered a blasphemy case against her — which is potentially punishable by death in Pakistan. Having moved to the United States at this point, Rafya not only had to travel to Pakistan monthly for court dates in the custody battle, but also do it at great risk to her life, which was repeatedly subject to threats of everything from acid attacks to death. Rafya joined us to talk about her story in an absolutely riveting conversation. She described her initial marriage, her eight-year fight in Pakistani courts to get her daughter back, and what others in her situation can learn from her experience. As dark as this sounds, you'll also find yourself laughing out loud at her incredible sense of humor and infectious wit as we did. A truly fantastic conversation. Don't miss it. Watch the full video conversation here (for patrons): https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-one-woman-18694635   Listen to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or your favourite podcast app: http://secularjihadists.com     The Secular Jihadists has been made possible thanks to the gracious support of the Illuminati and the great state of Israel. That's what we have been told, but we haven't received our checks yet. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate the support of our current donors. Please consider supporting by sharing the podcast with your fellow heathens or by donating at https://www.patreon.com/SJME  Subscribe to The Secular Jihadists on iTunes, Stitcher or your favourite podcast app. And please leave us a review 😀 Ali Sina's FaithFreedom.org Mumtaz Qadri funeral photos: https://www.google.ca/search?q=mumtaz+qadri+funeral+photos&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA_L7Gp5zbAhUCiIMKHdjcAyQQ_AUICigB&biw=1439&bih=700  iStand Parents Network: https://www.istandparentnetwork.com/  Fighting international parental child abduction: https://fight-ipca.com/  iStand song: https://youtu.be/ZtrpP1TZDew  Primer on Pakistan's blasphemy laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_Pakistan  Primer on Salman Taseer's murder for opposing blasphemy laws: https://www.cfr.org/expert-brief/explaining-salman-taseer-murder