Feeling devastated after seeing this news about Afghanistan

[LovingLilacDuck]

I stumbled across this on BBC — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q25dwj807o

I can’t stop crying. I feel so incredibly devastated that we live in such an unequal world. I cannot believe in 2026 people have to starve and children die — and girls be sold??? because of hunger. Goodness sake. That’s not right, it’s so inhumane. Seeing the tears on those tiny girls’ eyes and how fearful they are just breaks my heart so much, oh Gosh.

I just really feel sorry for these people who have to live under Taliban and suffer immensely. It’s so heartbreaking. And I know these people are not the only ones unfortunately…I just feel like we all have so much, more than we all need to and I wish we could just help the poor more as a whole world. But that doesn’t bring any profits does it???!

I wish I could do something to help, whatever that may be. Does anyone have a clue about what to do? I’d appreciate any insight. Thank you.

I'm not very knowledgeable about international relations, but I believe that the issue in Afghanistan is made worse because the Taliban have made things very difficult for agencies to supply aid. It's not as simple as people with plenty helping the poor.

I have no fucking sympathy for afghani men. The sit and watch and tolerate their female family members being fucked over generation after generation. They let it happen. Id starve before selling my child.

I feel very sorry for the women and children of Afghanistan.

The men though can get completely fucked, especially the ones running here for asylum and abandoning their wives and daughters to the taliban. They let them waltz in and destroy their lives, not even a lick of resistance. Because they thought the women and children would be the only ones disadvantaged and bearing the brunt of islamic extremism.

Then started crying when they realised they were fucked too.

This is engineered by the regime & there is very little anyone can practically do (as PP above mentioned about blocks on aid). It doesn't help when blind eyes are constantly turned - will the Afghan cricket team be welcomed here again with open arms this year?

Of course yanbu.

But it’s more than just that.

Depending on region, between 30% and 60% of Afghani girls get married before the age of 18.

The average age of a first time mum in Afghanistan is only 19.9 years old.

Selling girls is only a hop skip and jump from marrying your daughter off as a subservient broodmare at the age of 15.

I saw that on the BBC news last night, it was brutal and distressing. Afghanistan is under aid sanctions because of the Taliban and their appalling human rights record but the ones suffering are the women and children. I honestly don’t know what the answer is.

@elgreco and @NoisyHiker Careful. Tarring the entire population with the same brush smacks of wilful ignorance at best.
Most of these people are just ordinary families trying to survive under a most brutal regime. Families who love each other and want what's best for them.
You can't extrapolate one behaviour (however ghastly that behaviour is) to every male in the country.

The Linda Norgrove Foundation is an excellent charity run out of Scotland which specifically helps women and children in Afghanistan. If you google them and look at their website you can see some of the things they've supported over the last few years. They have very low running costs and work with people in Afghanistan including other charities.

Whilst I agree with you, in this case the child was ill and needed surgery to survive. They had no means to save her other than to sell her to a relative. I wouldn't want my daughter to live in a place like Afghanistan is now but im not sure i could sit and watch her die either.

This is why, in my mind, there is not a penny's worth of difference between Biden and Trump. Biden pulling the troops out was an incredibly stupid decision.

The international situation is going to shit and each is as much to blame as the other.

Some of the replies on here are woeful.
The US instigated a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump started it and let it continue even though the Taliban did not follow what they agreed to do with him.
Biden finished in carnage.
Then the US imposed sanctions and froze assets, starving the people. Google it and educate yourselves. The young men, you talk so disparagingly about, grew up with the US there not under the Taliban. They were terrified of the Taliban which was clear by the way people desperately tried to escape when the US withdrew.
The replies on here just echo the inhumanity shown on many threads towards people in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank etc

@elgreco , absolutely.

Why didn't the relative just give the money for the operation without insisting on getting a small girl in return? Or even just lend it. He obviously had the money.

We're incredibly, incredibly lucky to live in this time and place

Anyone who thinks the human experience is more good than bad is deluded

I'll tell you the most distressing thing ive ever seen - TW.

A couple who sold their 7/8 yo daughter, in similar circumstances. The mum was putting make up on her.

I felt that in my gut even typing it.

How awful. I can't say what i'd do if I was raised there and that was all I knew - but me now would let us all starve together 🥺.

We are so lucky to have been born where we are. All it is is luck.

It's easy to say you would starve when you don't actually have to think about starving the rest of your children. And starving would madden you and your husband too.

This.

The ONLY people who have the power to change thing are Afghan men.

We even spent billions helping them and equipping their army so they could, and they ran away like cowards.

Shame on them

I just read earlier that 40% of the food in the world gets wasted. The inequality is disgusting.

The men keep having sex without using contraception, creating babies that they know they can't feed. Women have no say in this.

I agree! Me, who i am now, would starve

But were i raised there and that was all i knew - i can't judge the mother

I judge the men though.

The men are all malnourished little boys raised in a psychopathogenic environment

Thank the Lord it's not us and hope like hell it never will be

Hm. I don't feel sorry for the men unfortunately. For the women and children yeah.

We are truly lucky 😔

You think they had any choice in how they are? Do you have sons?

Child marriage is legal in several US states.

Abortion is illegal, even in cases of rape and incest and medical emergency, in the US in almost every state and jurisdiction.

HTH with your hypocrisy only posting about mass human rights violations in other shit hole countries such as Afghanistan.

Because he lives in a world where he can get sex from kids

This is a tragedy but the men seem to be responsible for it

Unless we're allowed to go in and rescue all the women and girls, what can we do?

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say I don't think we should get involved - what's done is done, we can't fix it possibly we're gonna make it worse

And I certainly don't want to see any of these men coming here