Afghanistan humanitarian crisis

I’m pretty sure the protection of virtue/ prevention of vice rules prohibit women from talking to / being photographed by international journalists.

They probably like them just fine. Plus it's very handy to say you're fleeing them when you rock up at Dover in a dinghy.

Religious fundamentalism, in all it's guises, is very much linked to oppression of women and exploitation of children. It is well known that young boys are raped by the Taliban. Female children are sold to be raped. I very much doubt any Afghan women are consenting to being impregnated and risking death in childbirth.
Do we think the Taliban are motivated by religious conviction? Or just the desire to abuse women and children and satisfy their desire for sex?

OP - you sound really naive

Unfortunately, you've hit the nail on the head. It's symptomatic of a misogynistic, abusive society. It's not JUST the Taliban at fault; every single male is complicit. I recognise that an impoverished father may hold little sway against a regime, but they not entirely without power - be it reducing the risk of pregnancy by practicing safe or no sex, or helping relatives with money without asking for a little child's hand in marriage in return, or organising underground resistance groups. In Afghanistan, change has to come from within.

Until the Men of Afghanistan find their balls and rise up to get rid of the Taliban, it will carry on. Every Clannish/ tribal society is the same, 500 years behind the developed world.

So why do you think the relative didn't 'help out' his relatives with some money, as opposed to buying a female child?
Really, think about this?
Why wasn't a male child sold?
Really, think about why little girls are bought?
And yet the focus seemed to be on the 'poor' father.

The worst part is it’s inescapable. Women probably don’t feature in the article because they’re silenced and kept away from even speaking.

What happens to little girls is unbearable and boys too. The digital silence in Iran too whilst horrors go on.

These men are something to fear and idk how the people get away from it.

The leaders do seem to have a predilection for young boys, and it's well known despite homosexuality obviously being utterly illegal.
I was also surprised there was no mention of selling boys in the article. Maybe it's only the Taliban, whose misogyny is so fervent, they don't even want women as sex toys.
I despair at how so many men, and it is only men, can be so thoroughly evil, all at the same time, in the same place.
There but for the grace of God. I thank my lucky stars I was born in Western Europe.

But surely it is a matter of luck where you are born 🤷‍♀️
And that poor girl in de bbc clip has been very unlucky to be born in that situation.

I don’t think anyone is saying the UK is ‘lucky’ to be a free democratic country , and Afghanistan is ‘unlucky’ to be where they currently are.

But on a personal level there is nothing you can do about where you are born, and that poor girl can’t help that she is facing the situation she is in.

They actually introduced a new penal code legalising domestic violence by permitting husbands and “masters” to punish their wives so long as they don’t break bones or leave open wounds. If you do go too far whilst hitting get with a stick for example you can expect to serve up your a measly 15 days in jail.

If the woman attempts to return to her family without permission then she ( and anyone who offers her refuge) can get a 3 month stint in jail.

www.jurist.org/news/2026/02/taliban-new-penal-code-legalizes-domestic-violence-against-women/

Which charity are you donating too? Where is their presence in the country? How do get around the Taliban?
Keen to donate but not if it's a total waste.
I have experience of Afghanistan and ok be of its neighbours and most money is wasted or stolen via corruption.

@Swiftie1878 "Not enough to have fought for their rights. I have no time for these men.Instead of crying about having to SELL their daughters (to feed and access healthcare themselves!), why not mobilise and tackle the Taliban regime? Cowards, the lot of them."

Pretty hard to disagree with that. The sight of those men weeping and wailing about selling their 5 year old daughters into sexual slavery made me want to throw up.

@Bringemout "Also I’d be damned if I ever sold my small daughter into sexual slavery to an old man. How many of you would actually sell your little girl to an old man? I’d rather we all starved to death than do that."

Yep. So for example, there's no evidence at all of Irish parents selling their daughters for sex or marriage during the Irish Potato Famine when an estimated 1 million people (although probably considerably more) died of direct starvation or related diseases.

The WHO had a report saying that 90% of afghan women experienced domestic violence in Afghanistan. Frankly I have zero sympathy with afghan men.

Think you need to look at the ones claiming superiority director religion rather than bank balance for this one. Educating people out of religions that are causing the collapse of large areas of the world is your way forward with this one. Money put into Afghanistan will ultimately be used to shore up the Taliban

It’s a glib word to use. We should be proud and grateful to our forebears, not counting ourselves “lucky”.

Yes it was a country the for many life was far more prosperous and progressive but a country deeply divided by wealth and opportunity where religious leaders held power in many areas through fear

Its absolutely tragic what has happened and is still happening

Well, yes, but blaming the billionaires is easier.

Also I’d be damned if I ever sold my small daughter into sexual slavery to an old man. How many of you would actually sell your little girl to an old man? I’d rather we all starved to death than do that.

The poor little girls, women in Afghanistan have the worst lot, I remember reading an article about a guy selling his daughters to clear drug debts. These people do not value their girls, the reason the Taliban took over so quickly despite there being an actual afghan army is because enough people didn’t have a problem with them. There are absolutely decent afghans out there but the society is fundamentally sick. Listen to any us/british soldier talk about the casualness of bacha bazi in Afghanistan and you’ll see child rape is normalised.

Child marriage happened before the USA ever went anywhere near Afghanistan. It’s a cultural problem, especially in rural areas. Even if times were good people would be selling their girls to dirty old perverts. Clearly someone has some money if they can spend it on buying “wives”.

This. The young men that are physically fit and able are coming here. They don't seem to have any plan to help their mothers and sisters.

@ginasevern all our freedoms have come on the back of blood and sacrifice and bravery of forgone people's .

Yes, and it's not working. Compare and contrast the majority of African countries post-colonialisation, with say Singapore.
Endless money and aid and nothing gets better. Insanity on the West's part doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

@HRTQueen they had far, far more liberty when evil Western armies were embroiled there and still the mysogeny pervades