The silence of Western feminists is deafening
Aug 17, 2021 by Jill
by Joanna Williams, spiked:
The Taliban is ripping Afghan women’s freedom away from them. Where are the protests?
Women are no longer seen on the streets of Kabul. Since the Taliban captured the Afghan capital, women stay at home out of fear of being beaten. ‘In the past 24 hours, our lives have changed and we have been confined to our homes, and death threatens us at every moment’, says one terrified Afghan woman. Female journalists report having had their houses searched. In the space of just one day, they went from being busy professionals to destroying all traces of their former identity in a desperate bid to avoid Taliban retribution. ‘We are scared that if the Taliban find us they will definitely kill us’, explains another.
Women who, over the course of the past two decades, have fought hard to become police officers or soldiers are now in hiding. They took up arms against the Taliban, at the encouragement of Western forces, in order to defend their nation and fight for a better future. And now these women have been betrayed. They are now in hiding, fearful of revenge attacks, their immediate destiny uncertain.
And yet, in their moment of utmost need, Afghan women cannot turn to Western feminists for support. There have been no statements condemning the Taliban’s treatment of women from US vice-president Kamala Harris. Most mainstream feminist groups have been similarly silent. That tidal wave of support that greeted the victims of Harvey Weinstein? It’s dried up. For too many privileged Western feminists, sisterly solidarity ends at the borders of Europe.
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