Please tell me how I can join in helping to save women from the evil clutches of Moslem terrorism. Such as genital mutilation to women in Egypt, banned education to girls in Afghanistan, cruel legal treatment to women because of Sharia throughtout the the Islamic world. I must join. Please e-mail me back. Love, Alan

Thanks for your note--and for wanting to give your time and energy to ensuring that women have at least an equal chance in this world. The problems that you cite do mostly occur in Moslem countries, however, Islam is not always the root of these problems--or most accurately, it's not the intent of Islam, but the practice of a few Islamic individuals. Therefore, when offering any "counter attack" I think it's important to attack the actual enemy, which is certain factions and certainly individuals. (This is similiar to Catholicism, it's not that Catholicism is "bad," but some of the individuals involved--i.e. the Vatican--misrepresent the root of the religion and make it bad for some people). For more information on this a great resource is Dr. Badawi's book "Gender Equity in Islam." He is a professor at the Univ. of St. Mary.

With that said, there are some great organizations that are working on these specific issues (genital mutilation, widow burning, trafficking of women)--there is Equality NOW and the Feminist Majority Foundation--the latter is mostly working on the current situation for women in Afghanistan. They should be able to put your energy to good use. I hope that helps.

—Amy