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.
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.
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?
@MLClark 🧡