It's a testament to the tenacity and commitment of this community that we are at thread VII; do join the discussion and feel free to share the links and letters to anyone you think may wish to be part of this important debate.

We are currently awaiting the approval of a petition to parliament.

Shortly we will post links for those who want to take a proactive part in safeguarding the rights of all UK women to live in freedom from the fear of mass sexual assault as we sadly saw in NYE and reports of which are finally seeing daylight across Europe.

OP posts:

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 21/01/2016 20:56

great!! I hope its done before weekend.

glenthebattleostrich · 21/01/2016 21:10

It reads really well though Help. Fingers crossed it gets through.

We need to have a think about publicising it.

We need a post for the petitions section on here.

Moreshabby and I are working our way through the list we've put together to get twitter names and email addresses. Any help would be appreciated.

We also need some twitter users to send tweets, volunteers to do emails.

MariscallRoad · 21/01/2016 23:23

I think we should add Jon Snow

Palebluedotty · 21/01/2016 23:54

I don't do social media but here are twitter thingies for the people I suggested, and Mariscall's as i just saw it there.

Andrew Neil @afneil
Maajid Nawaz @MaajidNawaz
Jon Snow @jonsnowC4

MariscallRoad · 22/01/2016 00:46

It reads well.

Theydontknowweknowtheyknow · 22/01/2016 07:22

Good luck. Fingers and toes crossed!

IhateMondaymornings · 22/01/2016 07:47

This article is on the BBC news website this morning. Very interesting.

Teaching migrants how to behave
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35353310

TheNewStatesman · 22/01/2016 08:19

I have to admit this sentence put a smile on my face too!

"...there's a faint smile on the lips of the only head-scarfed young woman in the room." (in the classroom where a Finnish teacher is explaining to the migrants that in Finland women's are men's equals).

Inkanta · 22/01/2016 08:24

'Teaching Migrants how to behave' - yes, that's the way forward!

Original poster

januarybrown1998 · 22/01/2016 08:39

The French prime minister just mentioned Cologne as one of the reasons Europe needs to sort itself out right now and stated that member states simply cannot cope.

His plan to offer practical solutions IN THE REGION is the most sensible I've heard and means the truly vulnerable (sick, too poor or injured to make the trek) will be helped first.

OP posts:

Original poster

januarybrown1998 · 22/01/2016 08:42

NewStatesman and the last sentence wiped it off mine..

OP posts:

MariscallRoad · 22/01/2016 08:54

Would the lessons work?

MariscallRoad · 22/01/2016 09:04

January indeed the last sentence in the BBC article is worrying.

unlucky83 · 22/01/2016 09:14

Great news the petition is awaiting approval -(again) fingers crossed for this time...am skim reading thread but really busy right now.
Looking forward to doing everything I can to support and publicise it ....
Also wanted to point out there is SAIRA Khan (loose women) and SARA Khan (muslim feminist) and I think we should contact both!
I posted the gif and how to contact your MP, MEP and a template letter on this or maybe previous thread - when petition is up and running I'll repost them.
Thank you everyone for keeping at this to get the petition going and preparing a contact list....

BungoWomble · 22/01/2016 09:15

It's slowly, slowly percolating up the political agenda isn't it though. Slowly the fact that there is a clash is getting out there into the public arena.

I think there might be a clue there, NewStatesman. Don't just focus on the men. Make damned sure the women know their rights, know where to get help, and make damned sure as well that they are supported, that women are not just told that the state cannot interfere in an ethnic culture. If they're here, it's our state, our culture that matters.

I don't mean to sound victim blaming, but in abusive households here we talk of the cause of the problem - and their enablers. In the middle east, the women have no choice but to enable, their whole society is set up to enable male misogyny. Alone no one can change a society. Here we do have a choice, thanks to the hundreds of women who've come before us, and we will and must extend that choice to all women coming in.

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 22/01/2016 09:34

So in Finland," she says softly, "you can't buy a wife. A woman will only be your wife if she wants to be - because here women are men's equals."

^ the mind boggles.

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 22/01/2016 09:38

It's great in Finland," he says "But when I marry, my wife will be a housekeeper who will cook the food I like - and she certainly won't go to discos."

I guess the message needs to be driven home very clearly doesnt it that would be tantamount to holding her as a slave, she has rights and he could go to prison.

Interesting to get the glimpse of life back home for the women isnt it !!

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 22/01/2016 09:41

Make damned sure the women know their rights, know where to get help, and make damned sure as well that they are supported, that women are not just told that the state cannot interfere in an ethnic culture. If they're here, it's our state, our culture that matters.

^ indeed, absolute and the men need to know the women are told this - and it will be upheld and any attempts to tamper with her rights and freedoms will reuslt in prison and possible deportation.

^^ the sheer scale of this though, the work ahead when you think of the numbers of people coming.

and of course teaching this - as we all know doesnt mean for one second any men - women actually take it on board.
its a whole different mind set.

as someone said earlier on these threads, you cant teach my sense of value out of me, imagine similar classes in saudi.....

" women must not drive, they must not go out" I mean, we might sit and listen, we might do enough to keep us safe in public ( from prison) but really....who would actually believe it in their hearts?

BungoWomble · 22/01/2016 09:53

The first and last lesson has to be, simply, "This is a different culture. You are asking to come here. Therefore you will integrate into our culture, you must abide by our law and values, or you can go home". For us too, as well as immigrants.

Maybe part of the problem is that in Britain particularly, but in the whole world too, the world has got so big, we don't have neighbours that are all that foreign. Europe isn't that different to us in fundamentals, the middle east is all Islamic, so we've all developed this idea that we don't have a culture really, everywhere is the same. How many times have we all thought that Britain doesn't have a culture. Well we do, different cultures are different, and here, in our own country, we want our own ta very much.

BungoWomble · 22/01/2016 09:59

Then maybe we can look and choose the good bits to learn from each other.

glenthebattleostrich · 22/01/2016 10:10

unlucky, we do indeed have both on the list :)

Fingers crossed we get the petition out there today.

MariscallRoad · 22/01/2016 10:27

I feel it is not sufficient that the men migrants get these lessons. The lessons however, are voluntary and not all would attend. I heard that some men migrants skipped attendance claiming they had toothaches. There should be also lessons to migrants on women's rights in a Western democracy.

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 22/01/2016 10:34

bungo I know what yo mean but I have to say I have never ever thought we don't have a culture, all EU has different culture and some of these lessons needed to be given to our Eastern European men coming here.
Even the police once said to me when I had issues with neighbours from Eastern Europe " they are from a different culture where men are not told what to do by women but they are in the UK and they have to adhere to our laws". When I explained my issue to the operator I left out the nationality of those involved and the operator knew instantly where they were from.

We are one of the most liberal and progressive EU countries, even between us and poorer EU countries there is a huge difference! We are rich in culture here.

Its a start isnt it marisa its a start in at least recognizing there is a problem which is a good thing but they need to go a lot farther in my opinion.

HelpTheAnimalsFirst · 22/01/2016 10:55

My heart sinks when I think of the range of control and enforced obedience to dress laws some countries have. Remember the fire in Saudi Arabia last year that killed so many little girls? All of them could be alive today, but the Saudi guards would not allow the girls out into the street because they had no head coverings. Imagine the mindset of morons like this ....... appeasing strict dress laws even in a life-threatening emergency. I think those male guards were too scared to act from commonsense. THAT is the level of mind control and superstition facing us: better for them to die than hv your girl children seen in the street without head covering and proper dress.

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 22/01/2016 11:19

Madness help, and yet, there are progressive Muslims who want to allow women and men to pray together and gay and lesbians, and do away with head coverings. It can be done, its allowed, and hopefully insisting on womens rights will help the religion here to move forward.

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