I am struck by this quote, from an NY times article:

"I was afraid that my father would take me to a doctor and see whether I was still a virgin,” said the woman, 32, who owns a small business and lives on her own in Frankfurt. “He told me, ‘I will forgive everything but not if you have thrown dirt on my honor.’ I wasn’t afraid he would kill me, but I was sure he would have beaten me.”

I always thought that a woman needed both a room and a wallet of her own to be free, but this muddies the water a bit.

Honor and integrity are inner concepts. They are between you and your god. No one can measure those qualities, or judge you for them, or punish you for them. For a grown woman to expect a beating is disgusting.

If you go on to read the article, it talks about a case in France where a Muslim man asks for an annulment after finding out on the marriage bed that his bride is not a virgin, and French law agrees, citing breech of contract.

Ridiculous.