Okay, people, here it is. Feel free to edit as you please.I hope you find it helpful
Women’s Rights and Immigration
As you will be aware, on New Year’s Eve in Cologne over a hundred women were sexually assaulted or robbed (or both) by a crowd of about 1,000 men, described as being of North African or Middle Eastern ethnicity. Similar things happened, on a smaller scale, in other German cities, in Helsinki and perhaps in Austria: the reports are varied.
That is, of course, part of what makes this whole story so concerning: that the press coverage and the political response have been so halting and uncertain that it is very difficult to establish exactly what happened. I can only assume that this is because nobody wants to be accused of being a racist – but if nobody in mainstream politics discusses this issue, it becomes even more of a gift to the far Right.
It is a huge issue. It’s part of the cultural clash between some immigrants and liberal western society, a clash that doesn’t only affect women, and which it is evident that we need to tackle. It worries me that this is such a problem in mainland Europe already, and I’m concerned that if we just sit back, it will become a problem here as well.
What happened in Cologne is appalling, and the press and political response is too. Women’s rights are put behind immigrant rights, and that just isn’t good enough. I want to know that my country, and other countries in Europe, can play their part in resolving the refugee crisis without my rights, my daughters’ rights, my friends’ rights, being downplayed or debased. If immigrants come from countries where women are subjugated – like many of those in the Islamic world, where the refugee crisis is centred – they must be made aware that things are different in Europe. As I understand it, immigrants who obtain citizenship in other European countries are then free to come here under current European laws. How long before something like Cologne’s New Year happens here?
I would like to ask you to tackle this issue head on, to raise it rather letting it be ignored or minimised. We need, as a country, to have an open debate about this issue, to establish that women’s rights are a key part of our culture. The solution is not, as women in Austria have been advised to do, to remain indoors at night. The solution is to bring this issue right into the open, and insist that our social norms and expectations are not diluted.
I hope to hear from you.