This morning I wrote in part on the exploitation of violence against women at cost to the victims. I also mentioned the impact of hyper-militarized societies on gender equality.
Yesterday we learned that Saudi Arabia is now leading the UN women's rights forum. Now we learn that the Taliban is going back to stoning women in public. Oh, and Gambia is on the verge of unbanning FGM.
And we all know what's on the line for women in the US. These are hard, regressive times. 🕯️
Absolutely horrifying.
I feel like we're RIGHT back to the late 1990s... because in many ways we are. It's a wonder that we learn anything as a species, when individual generations sure as heck seem to have collective memories like a sieve.
That one haunted me, too.
We all knew where this was headed. Feminized people around the world were waiting for this shoe to drop after initial withdrawal.
And just as in the late 90s, we're going to be clamouring at the gates of government offices, calling for someone, anyone to do something--only for everyone to say their hands are tied.
(As I noted this week, too, the Taliban is poised to go global with lithium, making them a key market & giving them further, SA-style impunity.)
What options even exist at this point, besides clamouring at the gates? We watched passively as all their rights were taken away one by one, and now we have front-row seats to stonings as well?
In a better world, the Taliban's lithium could be used to temper its policies.
In the past, embargos and/or conditions on trade requiring significant domestic changes have incentivized countries to improve their internal conditions.
But for that to work here, the Taliban would need to have no alternatives for sale. Right now China is wooing the Taliban for that lithium, and other markets will also ignore human rights violations for access.
So no--there's not much we can do just yet.
(Except to stay informed, and to keep each other apprised of any changes if they happen. And of course, to move with greater care in our own lives, and around anyone we know who might be affected by family members still caught in that nightmare. The usual!)
Thank you for that response. My silence of the past few minutes is just me having nothing *helpful* to say. I know we're supposed to do what we can in our little corners of this mad planet, but as you know, it's hard to focus on the task at hand while all of *that* is happening. The symbolism of stoning is overwhelming. I'm going to take a walk while the sun is shining and see if I can transform my frustration into something better.
I too need to step out and be with the world in other ways right now. ❤️ Take good care of your heart. Thank you for sitting with me in this sorrow, and this fury, and this helplessness for a while.
@MLClark
Sigh, yes.
“They tested their draconian policies one by one, and have reached this point because there is no one to hold them accountable for the abuses. Through the bodies of Afghan women, the Taliban demand and command moral and societal orders. We should all be warned that if not stopped, more and more will come.”
This paragraph is going to stick in my head.