To be shocked this isn't getting more coverage?

The problem is that these are often linked.
There was an elightening interview with a high ex-CIA agent a while ago where he was explaining why and how US get involved in destabilising countries by prividing training and weapons to put certain people in the governemtn (Osama bin Laden was after all trained by the CIA as one of the efforts to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan) and to try to control the narrative. But then every once in a while this does not quite work, sh hits the fan and it backfires. Just like it did with Afghanistan. US wanted the Russians out, imposed economic sanctions on the Soviet Union to force them to withdraw, the Soviets did and here we are, after WTC collapse, a pointless war and Taliban government overtaking.

I was living in Germany at the time and I remember it also took the German media two to three days to report on the mass attacks in Cologne.
And then Cologne’s then mayor Henriette Reker urged women to keep men at arm’s length (eine Armlänge Abstand) to avoid being sexually harried 🙄

I've seen no reliable evidence to suggest that is remotely likely (we're becoming more secular if anything) but, if the UK ever got to the point that it was Muslim majority country, and that majority voted for sharia law to be implemented then surely they would just be democracy manifest and the will of the people?

“They” and other global rvil actors are 100% manipulating the soft minds of the Tik Tok generation into somehow thinking there is a commonality between LQBTQP and “Palestine”.
Make no mistake, there is no place in “Free Palestine for anyone other than “right thinking” Muslim men.

Why? To destabilize West, get the kind people to send money, shift their own people (men) out so they get jobs and send real currency to home country to build gov & military. Easiest way to get CASH.

The problem is that the 'West' only interferes when we can make money. US in particular but also other western countries only get involved when the country has resources that can by syphoned out and as long as they can by syphoned out, or when you need to put a favourable regime in place to make this happen, or when there is an arms deal that brings a lot of money. If no money is to be made, f* the poor countries, we pull out and leave them be. Rwanda clearly didnt have much going on at the time, because otherwise we would be falling over ourselves to get in there to 'save Tutsis'.

IME that depends where you ask, EasternStandard

Even on Mumsnet there are plenty of wise posters capable of looking at the wider picture, but they tend to get shouted down by the noisy subset for whom absolutely everything is the west's fault. Scratch the surface to reveal the basic ignorance this involves and you'll then get "But don't you care about the baybeeees?" and similar

It's also revealing to watch some who'd normally support women tie themselves in knots when the oppressors happen to be a minority they'd usually favour, but it's all part of the human experience I guess

Yes I remember saying this to one of my (very left wing) relatives. He just dismissed the point. These sort of people (the ones who are always blahing on about various causes) care far more about appearing to be racist than about misogyny.

The difference is that these groups aren't trying to impose their will and way of life on the rest of society.

There are lots of wars around the world we have no involvement in at all. Other than change coming from within, what can be done by other countries to help these women?

Christianity is doing plenty of misogyny in the UK too, but no one wants to talk about the disadvantaged position of women and girls in the Traveller community, or closed sects like the Brethren, or the more widespread normalisation of female educational underachievement amongst the working class.

I think everyone blames the regimes responsible for what's happening. I'm not sure how you took from my post that I wasn't blaming them.

And how would you propose that when women cant leave the house and speak?
Should we do the same about genocides and wars around the world, because it's not our business?

@bringincrazyback I like Andrew Doyle. Unlike bearded bros on the Left, he hasn't thrown women under the bus.

Who do you think creates the vacuum these regimes rise from?

They don't need a vacuum, @SerenityNowInsanityLater; these kind of influences have been there for thousands of years among the tribal societies, and if it's not "the troops leaving" which encourages them it'll be something else

That said I do agree the west made mistakes while interfering, but at the time not to get involved wasn't consider acceptable either. It was all "We've got to destroy the Taliban and save the rest", with no real understanding of the cultures involved or even what a good solution might look like ... probably because, much as we'd like one, there isn't a good solution by western standards

activists/newspapers/politicians are loud when campaigning about the gender pay gap or the state of child care or a woman's rights to her own body but somehow on this topic no one wants to criticise too often or too loudly

There is a pecking order, or hierarchy of issues on the Left.

The top spot belongs to issues regarding trans people, at the moment at least.

The there's racism and Islamophobia.

Then there's women.

Anything that's seen as exacerbating racism, negative opinions on immigration or Islamophobia doesn't get covered very well.

Hence why the Guardian were total shitbags when it comes to their 'coverage' of what happened in Cologne years ago. They took a long time to report on it (I think they only did so about 2-3 days later), and even then what I saw were just apology pieces which went on the lines of -

'Yes, what happened is awful, BUT'

That 'but' was incredibly telling. It made it clear that women must put up with sexual assault, must be sympathetic to the plight of men who come from other countries where street assault or harassment is much more common, otherwise we are taking part in racism or hatred towards these communities.

Basically, shut up, be quiet and BE KIND.

That is true of all of the Middle East, but short of inventing a time machine, all we can do is make sure we learn from those mistakes. But unfortunately that means leaving them to it, until hopefully enough people feel they have suffered enough and overthrow them. Islam was a hugely progressive religion even 500 years ago. Yet it is Muslims who have allowed it to be taken over by this ultra fundamentalist sect, worldwide.

I find these pictures so heartbreaking. Imagine being one of these women, having come from that to where they are now. Unfathomable.

In particular, progressive soft-left people (with whom I identify) need to stop imagining (a) that there is a way to reconcile the traditional beliefs and practices of certain ethnic/religious groups with the rights of women and gay people, and (b) that to expect and indeed require those groups to tolerate said rights is somehow racist, xenophobic, or anything-else-phobic
Agree. the naivete is off the scale. They will not all turn to Socialism if they threw off the shackles of Western oppression. The Taliban, Hamas etc are as far Right as they come, as are virtually all religious fundamentalists. Yet they are feted by the 'progressive ' left.

Absolute rubbish!

Afghanistan was a relatively liberal and modern country in the 60s and early 70s (pictures below), and while not perfect, wasn't anymore 'backward' than most of the world.

Who knows where Afghanistan and its people would be today if the West hadn't decided it would be a great idea to arm, train and fund the religous and conservative extremists to fight the Soviets on their behalf.

The Taliban are where they are today because we created them and then handed them control of the country not once, but twice.

Many Afghan men supposedly "escaping the regime" ended up in Turkey - recently saw a Twitter video where one ahole says "I like Turkey but why is there no sharia law here, there should be, too many women around are naked". When Turkish people starting telling him to go back to his hell hole if he likes sharia so very much he shut up and walked away. It is chilling to think these people are walking around with this mentality while enjoying freedoms they criticise.

Accusing me of being the sort of person who watches gb news? Oh I think I know what you were saying 😉

Yup, like Christian faiths, many different kinds of worship within Jewish faith. Wigs, strict kosher, big hats, are the minority, but trending upwards.

I think that this news story deserves to be read and understood by everyone, everywhere.
i really hope that this story remains in the active threads section so a lot of readers on here are aware of it.

Wow, that's a lot of words you put in my mouth there. None of which I actually said.

If a trillion dollars spent by the US over 20 years can't keep the Taliban out of power, I don't think there's much else we can do for Afghanistan. Certainly the UN isn't going to do anything. The Taliban literally only understand violence, which is why at their press conferences there are always several men with AK47s and rocket launchers standing behind the spokesman.

We can, however, call out misogyny at all levels when we see it, and in particular when it's closer to home. In particular, progressive soft-left people (with whom I identify) need to stop imagining (a) that there is a way to reconcile the traditional beliefs and practices of certain ethnic/religious groups with the rights of women and gay people, and (b) that to expect and indeed require those groups to tolerate said rights is somehow racist, xenophobic, or anything-else-phobic.

For what it's worth I think that situation is a bit better than it was a few years ago, but there is still quite a way to go.