Mass sexual assaults in Cologne on New Years Eve Part II

[Pinkchampchoccies]

Just in case people want to continue discussing this.

Like I wrote upthread. This is what a REAL patriarchy looks like and it's only the beginning

Well well done you speaker

Give yourself a pat on the back

Small, if you can't see the two sides are interlinked then it is probably best to step away.

This is not an either or scenario and as uncomfortable as it may seem, mumsnet is not some zeitgeist amongst the press.

'The more this becomes about immigration and not about women the less it will be reported in the mainstream'

The reason it wasn't reported in the mainstream initially was because of immigration. It is only social media and probably the fact that there have been over 1000 posts on MN about it and because people are angry and people are calling the Guardian out for stopping comments and calling the BBC out for not giving it a greater profile that the media has been shaed into giving it a higher profile.

Without social media, the mainstream would have tried to bury it.

Thanks TwatTheNinja. I will :)

Thought you would

This article details violations against women in Germany in November 2015.

The first half describes violations against refugee women ; the second half reports attacks on German women.

The article also includes an interesting breakdown of the gender and age group profiles of refugees entering Germany.

www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6527/migrants-rape-germany

There are several other very illuminating articles about this developing crisis enveloping Western Europe.

Readers can draw their own conclusions.

I've drawn my own and I don't want want these savages anywhere near me or my daughter.

One of the problems (the bit that feels like a social experiment) is the unstructured stream of migrants entering European countries including Germany. Migrants were invited to come by the head of state without a robust strategy. This is the bit that's blowing my mind. I'm all for helping people, especially the destitute but you cannot just let streams of potentially traumatised people (1 million in Germany in 2015) enter the country without consideration to the national security. This will always puzzle me.

The other problem is the misogynist culture inherent in most of the countries from which predominantly single young men are emigrating. This presents a major clash of expectations, although sure whatever these men's expectations were, they must have known that hat they were doing was wrong and nasty. I think the mob dynamic of this group of men should be analysed. What allowed (other than alcohol) these men to loose all their inhibitions and act so very over confident? Drugs? Group pressure? thinking that they get away with it or have nothing to loose? There is a huge problem of integration as we already know with disenchanted 2nd/3rd generation immigrants in Germany.

I feel empathy with displaced men, I do but i loose my empathy when they start attacking women and committing crimes with no regard.

The two biggest problems as I see it are that liberal society silences women when their issues conflict with race/ethnicity/religious issues and the victim blaming which has resulted in public attempts to restrict women's free movement. The public is more afraid of certain angered vocal communities than angered women.

SMALLLEGS, what did I say that was so terrible? That I fear for girls, and hold in contempt those absolute IMBECILES that welcomed these awful men with open arms?

Wow, the story finally features as top item on the Guardian website. Are they trying to appease their disappointed readership?

I cannot help but think that the the two lively and measured MN threads might have promoted the topic, as indicated by Claig

But they are still not mentioning the men's nationalities

"The handling of mass sexual assaults and muggings carried out by groups of young males during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Cologne has provoked debate around Europe."

www.theguardian.com/community/2016/jan/08/cologne-attacks-how-have-you-been-affected

'Are they trying to appease their disappointed readership?'

They have to. I have lost count of the posters on here who have said they won't buy it again or are cancelling their subscriptions. I'm not on twitter or facebook, but I guess they must be inundated with people angered by the Guardian. If they don't appease their readership, they will lose their ability to influence and spin them.

'provoked debate around Europe'

This is ridiculous. There has been anger and concern and worry and protests in Germany with people carrying banners. It is much more than debate.

Small I feel a bit guilty you answered what was essentially a bit of attempted smartaleckery on my part. (the upset person bit was serious)

Thread has probably run it's course it's true.

I dont think I am left or right. I will still get the Guardian weekly to have st on paper to discuss with my teenager. i find the politics of the Guardian alienating so perhaps I am "right wing" in old money. Should we all just talk to those we broadly agree with?

Oh no, I take that back. I doubt they are trying to appease.
www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/08/cologne-violence-suspects-include-asylum-seekers

minimise, minimise, minimise.
In one word pure and simple propaganda. I do hate what the Dily Amil stand for but seriously prefer them to the Guardian. I cannot believe the arrogance, ignorance and sheer cheek of the Guardian.

This thread has really grown beyond my capacity to keep up but I wanted to add a personal experience here too. When I lived in Brussels about 10 years ago, street harassment from men of Arab / North African origins was a big problem. We were there as interns on an international program and it was an open secret among us women interns that street harassment was ruining our experience in the city.

There were certain Arab areas where you just didn't go especially at night time. I say Arab because it was specifically these areas - I could go places with high numbers of other immigrants from Congo, Vietnam etc but not the Arab areas. Friends of mine were kerb-crawled, harassed and there was one rape and abduction of an intern while living there too (she thankfully escaped her rapists).

What was the response of the program organizers? An email to all of us to reiterate that 'Women should be careful about where they go at night and make sure they are not alone'. I remember feeling so enraged about this issue when I was living there. It really angered me that there was a serious social problem in the city that no-one wanted to address and we as women were being made to pay the price for it.

Same with these stories out of Cologne - women being blamed and silenced in order to cover up a big social problem that no-one wants to deal with. It's sickening.

"Thread has probably run it's course it's true.'

I don't know, what a shame if it has. Was this just a exercise in venting? Can anything constructive come out of it? How can all the energy and insight dissipate?

www.economist.com/news/europe/21685512-attacks-women-mobs-young-men-inflame-germanys-refugee-debate-new-year-new-fear

Apologies if this has already been posted but the article is pretty good and they have kept the comments section open

How can it be that politics takes precedence over safety. Information was witheld by the police and the authorities in Cologne were also lied to by the police. The chief of police in Cologne has been "sent into early retirement" He thought he could just brush this under the carpet but didn't really bargain with the power of social media. As for the advice given by the mayor of Cologne and the Austrian Chief of Police who basically told women that they need to modify their behaviour to avoid being attacked..... so what about all of the women who were not out on their own on NYE but still got attacked?

I have been invited to attend my local Labour party women;s group. I was wondering whether to bother going. I am going to think about how I can tactfully word it so they listen, but get across the concerns I have about women always being thrown under the bus to pander to other disadvantaged groups.

Is anything going to happen to these men though? Will they be deported or even sent to jail? Highly doubtful. Have the police said that they are going to crack down on large groups of men gathering in public spaces? If I was in Cologne or a large European city right now that would make me feel safer.

As it is now, I feel like the advice to women to modify their behaviour is an admission that they are not going to do anything about it and an acknowledgement that it will happen again. If this is the case it's outrageous. Why is it being allowed to happen?