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.

The blatant misogyny these men do nothing to stop? If she’s not sold now she’ll be sold at 10, or 15, or 17. It’s a question of when, not if.

Why does he not sell himself first? Or his boy children?

I’d rather they starved to death than were repeatedly raped as a pre pubescent child.

there are things worse than death And this is one of them

I saw the story too today and made a donation. It's random where we are born but living in Afghanistan must be like living in hell. Evil men wanting to buy little girls.

My heart feels broken when I think about these poor women and girls.

What I never understand is why the modern Islamic world isn’t also up in arms about the treatment of their Muslim sisters and brothers at the hands of this rag tag bunch of scum. Surely they’re aware of Muslim children starving and being raped at the whims of the Taliban? Surely they’re aware of the misrepresentation of Islam? They could be instrumental in putting pressure and shame on this ungodly regime. But they don’t. Why?

Journalist are there to observe and report not change events. By reporting it well money will be sent.

Someone up thread said it's under aid sanctions. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that but sanctions legislation exempts humanitarian aid, including in Afghanistan. There are definitely international charities operating there.

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Also, how could you morally observe this and not help? What’s the point of money being sent? Where to? Which fraudulent and corrupt organisations? It’s not a David Attenborough documentary where camera people and crew are not usually permitted to interfere with nature.

We know why.

Zero sympathy for human traffickers and if you sell your child that’s what you are.

Selling little children to pedos to become sex slaves and child brides. Rather than fight for your children and country. Scum.

Run away claiming you’re trying to better your women and girls yet leaving them to suffer. Yuk.

Always the men benefiting all the bloody time. While women and girls suffer.

The irony of it being a supposedly religious country. A cesspit of hideous practices and norms. What do you expect when nearly every girl has zero rights and most boys is either taught to enslave women or are slaves themselves.

Honestly though, don’t lose sleep over it, there is zilch, zero, nada you or I can do about it and nothing will ever change, they’re quite literally on their own and no one can save them because there is no desire or motivation to change.

No-one would buy him.

boy children are also sold to men for sex.
(this is strictly forbidden under Islam as is any kind of homosexuality) but the Afghani men ignore those bits of the Koran they don’t like.

"Almost 90% of women in Afghanistan have experienced at least one form of domestic violence, 17% have experienced sexual violence and 52% have experienced physical violence." - source

And I have to imagine the numbers are higher in reality - women have been so thoroughly oppressed that 92% of them think that a man is justified in beating their wife, and I doubt they even understand what enthusiastic consent is.

As I said on another thread, I have no sympathy for the men, only boundless contempt. They are nearly all, to a man, complicit in the abject dehumanisation of women, who legally have fewer rights and protections than livestock. The society is rotten to its core.

Personally, I would rather myself and my children all died - I would rather murder-suicide, like some families who faced the prospect of Nazi concentration camps - than to sell my daughter off to be raped for the rest of her life from the age of 10.

But of course, posters should remember if any of us were in Afghanistan and actually had to face this, it wouldn't be up to us - because as women we'd have no rights and our husbands who owned us would be the ones deciding, and legally beating us if we dared to protest.

It's often not adult men though. A lot of male Afghans who try to come here are 14 - 18. If you could get your son out of the country and away from the Taliban wouldn't you do the same? You know you can't send your daughter because somewhere along the line she going to be sexually assaulted and probably trafficked into exploitation so you'd at least try to get your son out. I know I would. I'd be hoping that at least one of my children could escape to something better.

The age for girls to be married there is 9......

And the reason they can’t send the daughters is all those very sons / brothers / uncles and traffickers who are a risk.

The same men we are supposed to welcome.

It is exactly the same principle. I sent money to World Food Programme. The more it's publisised the more people will send money.

We cannot police the world. Afghanistan will need to sort it's own problems out. And those problems should not be allowed to be brought here.

I know, I was being slightly facetious. But the article angered me so intensely. My number one question as the journalist would have been ‘why choose to sell your daughter rather than your son?’ Rather than all the BS justification of such an act of misogyny and absolute barbarism.

To be entirely fair, no Islamic countries apart from UAE have diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

Pakistan and the Taliban have a notoriously difficult relationship. Iran does not recognise the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan but has what has been called a working relationship with them.

there are a fair few Islamic charities working within Afghanistan these days - here is one:

https://islamic-relief.org/where_we_work/afghanistan/

Sadly, I have to imagine much of the money and aid will be intercepted by men, and not reach the women and children it's supposed to help, like Live Aid in Ethiopia.

Yeah I know, and it's fucking disgusting wherever it happens. Don't know why you're saying it happens in the USA when this is a predominantly British forum though.

Thanks but no, there is no way on this earth I would support a charity whose major strategic partner is the Mormon Church. Again, not renowned for its good treatment of women and girls.

I have unending sympathy for the girls and women of Afghanistan.

The men who are treating girls as currency instead of human beings deserve nothing but unending torment.