p. 12 | Confined to Walled-In Yards

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 11, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 31.

Confined to Walled-In Yards

By Mrs. Florence White-Oster

Women Who Have to Live in Worse than Jails

The Bondage from Girlhood

By MRS. FLORENCE WHITE-OSTER

BEFORE coming to this country, I had read much about the seclusion of Mohammedan women, and thought I knew something about it; but I have come to the conclusion that no woman of a civilized country can know or comprehend what her poor Moslem sisters must suffer.

NEVER TO LEAVE HER YARD

No woman after marriage is supposed to leave her own yard, or as is usually the case, the yard of her father-in-law. And the yards here are very different from those in America. Every home, whether large or small, is completely surrounded by a high wall, for the very purpose not only of keeping the women in, but also that they may not be seen by their neighbors. In any home, no windows are allowed, save those that open on its own court.

Not knowing this, we had a small window cut into our back wall, opening on the roof of our neighbor's house, that we might have more light, and that we might see the hills beyond. No sooner was our window completed than an observing neighbor covered it with stones and mud, and then boarded it up. Evidently he feared my husband might see into his yard and perhaps catch a glimpse of his wife.

NEVER BUT FOUR MEN SAW HER

I know of one woman whose face, as far as she knows, has been seen by only four men,—her father, brother, husband, and a missionary doctor.

Another woman near has not been outside her own yard since her marriage twelve years ago. And she is only one of thousands. Can you realize what this means? Suppose you, dear reader, could never go to a store, could never run over to see a friend or loved one, could never leave your own yard, nor behold the beauties of nature.

NOTHING TO RELIEVE THE MONOTONY

And their indoor life is not as pleasant as yours would be could you submit to the seclusion. The great majority of Persian homes consist of but one room, with no furniture but a rug on the floor, a gun in the corner, a pile or two of quilts and blankets, and a round, deep hole in the ground which serves as stove for both cooking and heating purposes. Living this simple life, they have not the pleasant duties of a real home to occupy their minds and hands, and they can not read to pass away the lonely hours.

O, pray that the Sun of Righteousness may soon penetrate this darkened land, for only the influence of the gospel can free these, our sisters, from their terrible bondage.