ABSTRACT
The segregation of families and communities along gender lines in the domestic field is, however, one of the pillars of Islamic hierarchy. Islamic legal discourse neutralises the bodies of young girls by creating social space in various ways, for example by using so called purdah seclusion practices to keep them apart from certain designated men. The malignant social consequences of sexual trauma may include rejection by the woman's kin and community, such as disownment and divorce, or even murder by family members if the rape victim herself is blamed for the loss of family honour. Sexual violation and the torture of women and children therefore remain underreported, and it takes much courage for clients to reveal them, even in the course of therapy. The fear of the awful consequences resulting from lack of male protection already experienced by these women at home, thus recur in exile.
