Women and children last
Quick story. During the Sudan crisis I spoke with an American minister of the Lutheran Church in Boston who was part of the effort to save Sudanese boys. When I asked why no one was focused on saving Sudanese girls, he literally had never thought about it and didn’t know the answer but promised to get back to me. Eventually he did and he explained that the boys are often killed as they can serve as soldiers for the other side, but the girls have value as prostitutes so therefore aren’t killed. So, I pointed out to him, a swift bullet to the head was less preferable than a life of child rape, unwanted pregnancy, agonizing death by childbirth and perhaps, at best, fistula and sepsis. He was stumped because he never thought about it before.
Now let’s go to Afghanistan. The one thing that struck me was the number of men trying to get on that moving plane. Who were they leaving behind? Wives and children? Mothers? I’m not saying those panicked men were not in fear for their lives, but again we’re faced with the same question. What’s better? A quick bullet to the head or a lifetime of sexual slavery?
Biden certainly will be targeted for the botched exodus from Afghanistan. It is heartbreaking and appalling. And unnecessary. But this
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man, our President, is above all, a compassionate soul. I believe he hears us when we released our collective cry to save these people. But in the current panic, I don’t want to lose focus on the women and girls left behind. It’s easy to get blindsided by the tragedy in your face and not see the tragedy enacting around you. Yes, these Afghan men are climbing on an aircraft. But who are the victims who have no chance of even doing this foolish and desperate act? They are ultimately the real victims here. The only hope they have is immigration to any land that values females. I want the US to put women and girls at the top of the list.
TR Kenneth is the author of the thriller, A ROOM FULL OF NIGHT. You can read all about her at trkenneth.com and on Twitter