Vigil for victims of Orlando terror attack
Vigil for victims of Orlando terror attackHadas Parush/Flash90

"The growth in systematic abuse of women, especially by Islamists in the West, requires democratic governments to introduce strong measures to stop this abuse." So writes Pakistan-based journalist and commentator Khadija Khan for Gatestone Institute.

The specific background of her plea is the recent harassment and threats against a young British teenage girl by Islamists in Birmingham, England, after a video of her dancing was circulated.

"Enslaving women in general and inflicting repressive agendas -- such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, segregation, allowing no say in choosing a partner, education or profession, with abysmal living standards often part of the abuse -- is just a small measure of the jihad that the Islamists have managed to unleash across the globe," Khan declares.

The video led to aggressive shaming and harassment of the girl by the local Islamist "morality police": men who ranted against her "impious" act and reportedly forced her to apologize publicly online. Sobbing, she "admitted" how evil and shameless she was to have brought such dishonor to her family and religion.

"Have things come to such a pass that now, even in Britain, only the most courageous can spontaneously express feelings of fun? … It is important for as many people as possible, both in Great Britain and world-wide, to say how much they love her beautiful spirit and that they totally standby her right to dance, sing, play or have fun."

"Most horrifying is that it seems that even the West has started to buy into the version of 'modesty' that for centuries these extremists in the Middle East have been forcing on women."

"The human rights groups seem to have become so apologetic towards the extremist abusers that they now turn their backs on the victims of these abuses -- the people who need human rights groups the most. Perhaps they believe that supporting the poor girl would mean offending Muslims… The poor girl was shown no solidarity by any supposed champions of liberal causes. Instead, she was thrown to the hounds and left to face her torment alone."

"The massively destructive, wrong-headed political policies of Western governments -- such as keeping silent on the abuses of women by Muslim extremists involving, for example, underage and forced marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM), sharia courts in the UK and accepting the existence of no-go zones where the extremists enjoy impunity and thrive -- are also to be blamed for the increase in violations of women's rights. Politicians and the policy-makers are apparently too scared of being accused of committing some fabricated 'Islamophobia' or 'infringing on the rights of Muslim citizens,' so they choose to keep their eyes shut to the plight of these women."Khan cites other instances and incidents in which young Muslim girls were victimized by extremists "just for innocently being [themselves]… Extremists use shaming and harassment as punishment and deterrence for any woman in their communities who tries to break a barrier to regain her life."

Khan also has a message for individual liberals: "Many liberal women, doubtlessly well-intended, seem to love to wearing hijabs supposedly 'in solidarity;' what they do not understand is that for millions and millions of Muslim women, who dare not say so, it is not a symbol of freedom and 'protection' -- like a slave-owner 'protecting' his property -- but of repression and imprisonment. It is forced upon women, now even in the West, and, worse, with the wholehearted complicity of the West."

In conclusion, she writes, "It is time for politicians, governments, policy-makers, clerics, human rights groups and 'liberals' to stop siding with criminals who commit assault, battery, and even murder, and to start protecting their citizens."