Opinion And Debate

The plight of afghan women HANA NABIZADA | CONTENT WRITER

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the world has seen restrictive policies imposed that detrimentally affect Afghan women. From the banning of girls attending secondary school to the normalisation and justification of violence against women in the most horrific forms, it is no wonder that Afghanistan is facing the worst human rights crisis against women in the world today.

Unsurprisingly, the Taliban have backed out of their promise made to the international community and Afghanistan that women would be able to exercise their rights in alignment with Sharia law. Such basic rights would include financial and legal rights, ability to work and education to name a few. However, the Taliban have removed these in favour of a much more extreme interpretation of Sharia law. This has led to misogynistic and outright violent policies that heavily restrict the attainment rights of Afghan women or completely remove them. Examples we have seen are the banning of travelling without a male chaperone, mandatory face coverings, denying political participation and the dismantling of systems put up to protect women such as refuge centres. Domestic violence is almost never dealt with when alerting authorities as it is a ‘family matter’, and society and the law commonly favours the man. The punishment for fleeing an abusive relationship is certainly met with more violence and in many cases, mutilation, and death. One only needs to look to Bibi Aisha or search #JusticeForElaha on Twitter as examples of these atrocities.

This systemic genderbased violence against women has led to their erasure in society and public life. Even worse, the lack of accountability and outrage by the international community has reduced Afghan women and Afghanistan’s human rights crisis to a mere statistic. The collective failure of Western countries has enabled Afghanistan to continue existing under this repressive state, and not much is being done to help. An example of UK’s failure to help Afghan women and families is evident in their flawed Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy scheme and their Afghan Citizens Relocation scheme, both of which are dedicated to relocating Afghan nationals to the UK. The ARAP scheme has been criticised as being too restrictive in eligibility and the proceedings being subject to immense delay. Between the beginning of April 2022 to June 13th 2022, decisions were made on only two out of 3,226 applications received. It appears that a peaceful life is not a right but a luxury to Afghans, be it in their home country or abroad. What, then, can be done to hold the Taliban accountable and have their policies removed? Pressuring governments to extend the travel ban against the Taliban that expired on August 19th is a start, as is calling on feminist countries, such as France and Sweden, to advocate further for the rights of Afghan women. Though it seems counter-intuitive to have to rely on governments that enabled the Taliban to rise and stay in power, it appears to be one of the only few solutions in an extremely bleak situation. Extreme media censorship, arbitrary arrests and torture, a crippling economy and limited access to basic utilities and rights have made it difficult for Afghan citizens to mobilise successfully against the Taliban. Besides educating oneself, raising awareness, and pressuring governments to make some positive change, there is little else we can do other than hold out on hope. Source: Afghan women wait in line for money distribution by the World Food Program on November 3rd 2021. Bram Janssen 2021.

Why a Lib-Lab pact is essential to defeating the Tories

THOMAS MCLINDEN | CONTENT WRITER

After 12 years of Conservative-led government, Britain finds itself with the fourth successive Tory leader. Calls for a General Election have followed Liz Truss through the door of Number 10, with opposition parties wishing to cash in on the current predictions of pollsters. The current outlook in the polls spells a bleak image for the Tories, with Labour expected to replace the Conservatives as the party of Government. It should come as no surprise that the Tories face a dire outcome in the polls, with rampant surges in energy costs and the fallout from ‘party-gate’ being to blame. The polls however, despite a favourable outlook for Labour, do not confirm a rout of the Conservatives, with Labour only expected to achieve a slim majority. To shore up Labour’s electoral prospects, Keir Starmer should be reaching out to the Liberal Democrats. An agreement between the two parties would make sense for all involved. It would lock the Conservatives out of Number 10 and would help Labour into Downing Street, whilst seeing the Liberal Democrats increase their number of seats in the House of Commons, gaining larger influence over any coalition policy. There are two scenarios in which the Liberal Democrats could help usher Starmer into Downing Street. The first sees an informal coalition between the two parties. This would see both parties’ step aside for one another in marginal seats. This would increase the anti-Conservative vote share in seats that are crucial to any election victory for this proposed progressive alliance. The second scenario would occur should Labour fall short of any majority needed. This would see the Liberal Democrats and Labour come together to join a formal coalition. However, the first scenario is much the wiser for Labour’s electoral chances and should be utilised by Starmer’s team.

It is simple, Labour should not invest too much in wishing for an election victory outright. Instead, they should do whatever it takes to gain the keys to Downing Street. Failure to capitalise on current leads in the polls would see a fifth successive election defeat for Labour.

A partnership between Labour and the Liberal Democrats would not be anything new. Previous deals have been struck between the parties before. The most notable came in 1997, with Tony Blair and Paddy Ashdown working together with their parties to defeat the Tories. The workings of a Lib-Lab pact

have been seen in recent byelections. It was announced by Ed Davey that a focus would be placed on the Honiton and Tiverton constituency, letting Labour focus on winning Wakefield.

Despite the obvious benefits to an agreement between both parties, there is of course to be expected, negative press directed towards such an agreement. Could we perhaps see a return to the rhetoric which labelled a rumoured coalition of progressive parties in 2015 a ‘coalition of chaos’. Regardless of any attempts to smear a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the potential benefits electorally outweigh the criticism aimed by the Conservatives.

Source: The Telegraph Caption: Starmer and Davey: Architects of a New Progressive Alliance?

Can we Truss(t) in Truss?

OLIVIA SCATTERGOOD | CONTENT WRITER

They say an ill wind blows no good, and Liz Truss has newly blown into Number 10 on the back of a storm (quite literally). Unfortunately for her it is nothing compared to the potential storms she must face. These include the crumbling NHS, cost of living crisis, and the fuel crisis, not to mention the shadow of Vladimir Putin’s war. So, with just a majority of 20,927 votes to call her own, how will the newly appointed Prime Minister approach these issues and what does that mean for us? More importantly, does she care? The warning signs may be held within her choice of cabinet members, who will have to weather the storms with her. James Cleverly - an old Boris Johnson ally - as Foreign Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor - a long-time ally of Truss in every sense, as well as Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, who seems like she will be more hard-line on immigration than her predecessor, Priti Patel. It is expected that she will disregard the European Convention of Human Rights (which had previously prevented the deportation flights to Rwanda) and execute the plans laid out by Patel. This could be the start of a slippery slope, setting a precedent for the gradual dismantling of other EU legislation such as the 2010 Equality Act and many worker’s rights. Jacob Rees-Mogg has also been named as Business Secretary with the responsibility of energy and industrial policy, and with his track record of climate denialism and Euroscepticism, he would likely be at the front of any queue to remove any EU legislation from the statute books. Kit Malthouse has been given the role of Education Secretary, which makes him the fourth one to be assigned in just over two months. As a temporary coordinator for the response of the heatwaves in July 2022, while Johnson was on holiday, he made the decision to tell schools to remain open which sounds like a great plan when we remember that most school buildings were built in the 1970s, using huge expanses of glass with no AC, creating a health and safety hazard for already stressed teachers to manage. During her campaign, Truss has made numerous promises, including plans to amend procedures for the Oxbridge application process, ‘so students who get top grades in their A-levels would be automatically invited to apply’. Instead of feeding into the elitist narrative that the only degree worth having is from Oxbridge, Truss should be encouraging UK businesses to assess graduates on their merits rather than the university that they attended. It may be too early to forecast but Liz Truss and her cabinet look set to take us back to the 1970s, putting us on the brink of another winter of discontent and facing weakened rights for all. Trussism is shaping up to mean more for the haves, less for the have-nots, but we shall see.

Source: PA Media