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Farkhunda was beaten to death by a Kabul, Afghanistan, mob on March 19. She had been arguing with a mullah about his practice of selling charms to women at a shrine. In the course of the argument, she was accused of burning the Quran and a crowd overheard and beat her to death. Thousands marched through the Afghan capital March 24, demanding justice for the woman who was beaten to death by a mob after being falsely accused of burning the Quran.Men and women of all ages carried banners bearing the bloodied face of Farkhunda, a 27-year-old religious scholar killed by the mob. Farkhunda, who went by one name like many Afghans, was beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body was thrown into the Kabul River.Catherine Zant, a senior from Boston, Mass., studying psychology and peacebuilding, said, “Oppression against women throughout the third world is devastating. Incidents like the one in the article occur all the time but receive no media attention. So, the fact that the story of Farkhunda’s death is being publicized and investigated is wonderful.”Amrullah Saleh, a political leader in Afghanistan and former director of the intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, said the demonstrators sought to make Farkhunda an icon of the struggle against “injustice, mob court, street violence, violence against women, lawlessness, extremism,” and especially the injustice suffered by women.“She is an example of probably what has happened silently to many,” Saleh told the Associated Press. “She drew a line with her blood between those who want justice, rule of law, and those who are extreme in their views and who breed in lawlessness.”Zant said, “I think there are two things that can do a lot to eradicate the injustices against women throughout the world. Simply put, it is education and empowerment. The word empowerment is used so often it has become somewhat cliché, but truly as women stand up for themselves and tell the world that they will no longer accept maltreatment, traditions and cultures that perpetuate these injustices, things will change. The Afghan women who rallied after Farkhunda’s death are an excellent example of this.”The Interior Ministry said 28 people have been arrested and 13 police officers suspended as part of investigations. Also, the spokesman for the Kabul police, Hashmat Stanikzai, was fired over comments he made on social media supporting Farkhunda’s killers. Stanikzai could not be reached for comment.Madison Hardisty, a junior from California studying peacebuilding, took an Arbinger approach in analyzing the incident. “In cases of abuse, one party is seeing the other as an object. Generally, we’d like to think that we’re good people, so when we do something that is contrary to that idea, we start to feel really guilty. In order to get rid of that feeling of guilt, we convince ourselves that the other party deserves it and we start to see them as an object. I think that this is something that happens amongst all people, but I think it’s very common in gender inequality, with women being seen as objects.”“The problem is many women don’t even realize they are worth more,” said Zant. “Culturally, in areas of the world, gender roles put women far below men. It is so widely accepted that women won’t question their husbands beating them. Women will be burned in the street and life will go on as usual. This is why education is so vital.”Uploaded April 2, 2015

BYU-Hawaii students said they thought donating $1.8 million of the proceeds of the film “Meet the Mormons” to the American Red Cross shows the world who the people of the LDS Church really are. “Because of this long-standing relationship [with the American Red Cross] it was decided that when ‘Meet the Mormons’ was released we would take the new proceeds of the movie and give it to the American Red Cross,” said Presiding Bishop Gary E. Stevenson, who presented the check as a representative of LDS Charities to Cliff Holts, president of Humanitarian Services of the American Red Cross on March 19. Clair Beutler, from California and a sophomore in elementary education, said, “I loved the movie and it is great to see our church continuing to show the media who we really are. I know the movie broke a lot of bad Mormon stereotypes and I hope that this just backs it up.”According to Mormon Newsroom, CEO and president of the American Red Cross, Gail J. McGrovern said the church has responded with a great deal of people to help in the aftermath of many disasters all overthe world. Chloe Dean, a junior psychology major from California, saw “Meet the Mormons” and said, like the movie, this is a great way for the church to show its positive demeanor in the media. “Our church does a lot of great things of service for this world, and we normally don’t publicize about it,” Dean said. “By using the movie money, which brought a lot of good attention to the church, to donate to a good cause shows the nature of this church andits organization.”Mormon Newsroom said, “Heidi Ruster, chief executive officer of the Utah region of the Red Cross, remarked how the Church has been an active partner not only in Utah but also around the world. She said, ‘A surprise this year from the Church was the donation of the net proceeds… We are so thankful and grateful for that.’”The church’s statement from the beginning of the opening of the documentary said the net box office proceeds would be donated to the American Red Cross, reported Mormon Newsroom. “Meet the Mormons” opened in theaters on Oct. 10, 2014 and “exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said Stevenson about the feature-length documentary. The total U.S box office revenue was about $6 million, reported Mormon Newsroom.Justin Kolilis, junior exercise and sports science major from Washington, said, “As members, we believe in being charitable and donating that money to the American Red Cross was a great example to the world of who we are.”For about 100 years the LDS Church and the Red Cross have been working together, reported Mormon Newsroom. “During World War I, the women’s Relief Society of the church joined with the Red Cross as they participated in food production and conservation, fund drives, sanitation, child welfare work and other service. The Relief Society also collaborated with the Red Cross in the early 1900s when more than 10,000 Relief Society sisters completed Red Cross courses in home nursing, first aid and nutrition.” Uploaded April 2, 2015