1 00:00:01,980 --> 00:00:08,100 Culture matters. It ‘s the primary source of social progress or regression. Nowhere 2 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:13,690 do we see this more clearly than in the status of women. The Judeo-Christian culture -- and 3 00:00:13,690 --> 00:00:19,519 perhaps a more apt word is civilization -- has produced over time the law codes, language 4 00:00:19,519 --> 00:00:24,739 and material prosperity that have greatly elevated women's status. 5 00:00:24,740 --> 00:00:27,680 But this progress is not shared everywhere. 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,240 There are still hundreds of millions of people that live in a culture -- the Islamic, 7 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:38,520 for instance -- that takes female inferiority for granted. Until recently, these cultures 8 00:00:38,530 --> 00:00:44,370 -- the Western and the Islamic -- were, for the most part, separated. But that is changing. 9 00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:46,270 Dramatically so. 10 00:00:46,270 --> 00:00:51,390 Large numbers of immigrant men from the Middle East, South Asia and various parts of Africa 11 00:00:51,390 --> 00:00:55,910 have brought a different set of values to the West, specifically Europe. 12 00:00:55,910 --> 00:01:00,970 More than a million arrived in 2015 alone. More are on the way. 13 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:07,250 As a result, crimes against girls and women -- groping, harassments, assaults and rape 14 00:01:07,250 --> 00:01:13,300 - have risen sharply. These crimes illustrate the stark difference between the Western culture 15 00:01:13,300 --> 00:01:16,380 of the victims and that of the perpetrators. 16 00:01:16,380 --> 00:01:23,080 Let me be clear: not all immigrant men, or even most, indulge in sex attacks or approve 17 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,700 of such attacks, but it’s a grave mistake to deny that the value system of the attackers 18 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:34,630 is radically different from the value system of the West. In the West women are emancipated 19 00:01:34,630 --> 00:01:40,610 and sexually autonomous. Religiosity and sexual behavior or sexual restraint is determined 20 00:01:40,610 --> 00:01:46,300 by women's individual wishes. The other value system is one in which women are viewed as 21 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:53,000 either commodities (that is, their worth depends on their virginity), or on the level of a prostitute 22 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,780 if they are guilty of public "immodesty" (wearing a short skirt for example). 23 00:01:57,780 --> 00:02:05,480 I do not believe these value systems can coexist. The question is which value system will prevail. 24 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,120 Unfortunately, this remains an open question. 25 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:14,320 The current situation in Europe is deeply troubling: not only are Muslim women within 26 00:02:14,330 --> 00:02:19,910 Europe subject to considerable oppression in many ways, such norms now risk spreading 27 00:02:19,910 --> 00:02:24,980 to non-Muslim women who face harassment from Muslim men. 28 00:02:24,980 --> 00:02:29,160 One would think that Western feminists in the United States and Europe would be very 29 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:34,860 disturbed by this obvious misogyny. But sadly, with few exceptions, 30 00:02:34,860 --> 00:02:38,220 this does not appear to be the case. 31 00:02:38,220 --> 00:02:43,500 Common among many Western feminists is a type of moral confusion, in which women are said 32 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:49,990 to be oppressed everywhere and that this oppression, in feminist Eve Ensler's words, is "exactly 33 00:02:49,990 --> 00:02:56,930 the same" around the world, in the West just as in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. 34 00:02:56,930 --> 00:03:03,440 To me, this suggests too much moral relativism and an inadequate understanding of Shariah law. 35 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,460 It is true that the situation for women in the West is not perfect, but can anyone 36 00:03:08,470 --> 00:03:13,620 truly deny that women enjoy greater freedom and opportunities in the United States, France 37 00:03:13,620 --> 00:03:18,460 and Finland than they do in Iran, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia? 38 00:03:18,460 --> 00:03:25,320 Other feminists have also argued that non-Western women do not need "saving" and that any suggestion 39 00:03:25,330 --> 00:03:30,070 that they "need" help from Western feminists is insulting and condescending 40 00:03:30,070 --> 00:03:33,200 to non-Western women. 41 00:03:33,209 --> 00:03:39,240 My perspective is a practical one: any efforts that help Muslim women -- whether they live 42 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,990 in the West or under Islamic governments should be encouraged. Every effort to pressure these 43 00:03:44,990 --> 00:03:49,830 governments to change unjust laws should be supported. 44 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:56,060 Western feminists -- and female Western leaders -- have a simple choice to make: Either excuse 45 00:03:56,069 --> 00:04:00,609 the inexcusable, or demand reform in cultures and religious doctrines 46 00:04:00,609 --> 00:04:03,589 that continue to oppress women. 47 00:04:03,589 --> 00:04:08,729 Nothing illustrates this better than what happened in Cologne, Germany on New Years 48 00:04:08,729 --> 00:04:15,569 Eve, 2015. That night, during the city's traditional celebrations, numerous German women 49 00:04:15,569 --> 00:04:24,140 (467 at the last count) reported being sexually harassed or assaulted by men of North African and Arab origin. 50 00:04:24,140 --> 00:04:30,160 Within two months, 73 suspects had been identified -- most of them from North Africa; 51 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,680 12 of them have been linked to sexual crimes. Yet, in response to the attacks, Cologne's 52 00:04:35,690 --> 00:04:42,490 feminist Mayor Henriette Reker issued an "arm's length" guideline to women. " Just keep an 53 00:04:42,490 --> 00:04:47,910 arm's length distance between you and a mob of Arab men, she advised Cologne's female 54 00:04:47,910 --> 00:04:51,240 population, and you will be fine. 55 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:58,520 Mayor Reker's comments underline the seriousness of the problem: a culture clash is upon us. 56 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:04,320 The first step in resolving it is to unapologetically defend the values that have allowed women 57 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:10,710 to flourish. Feminists with their organizations, networks and lobbying power need to be on 58 00:05:10,710 --> 00:05:16,690 the front lines on this battle. Their relevance depends on it. And so does the well being 59 00:05:16,690 --> 00:05:20,610 of countless women, Western and non-Western. 60 00:05:20,610 --> 00:05:25,110 I'm Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Harvard University for Prager University.