Women and the West: An Uncomfortable but Necessary Warning

The media and institutions repeatedly tell us about the success of feminist policies in the West, policies that, according to their advocates, have made women freer and more empowered than ever before. Is this true? Is today’s world more favorable to women, as feminists claim? That is the question that the report “Women and the West—Liberty, Tyranny and True Liberal Values” by Meaghan Mobbs, director of CASS, and Mallory Jammullamudy of the Independent Women’s Center for American Safety and Security (CASS), an organization dedicated to national security and foreign policy issues—focusing on the role of women in these areas—has attempted to answer.

“The fate of women has always been a measure of a civilization’s moral strength and institutional integrity,” the report states.  Based on this assertion, it analyzes the situation of women in the West—and its conclusions are not exactly favorable to the feminist narrative. Progressive policies have led to increasingly tyrannical ‘tolerance’ in which freedom is stifled by political correctness, values are replaced by moral relativism that opens the door to beliefs that seek to destroy the West, and ‘tolerance’ is used as justification for censorship of free speech. As the report states, “When tolerance is divorced from truth and inclusivity is prioritized over integrity, it is women who too often pay the price.”

Disconnecting from the truth only leads to lies, and that is the modus operandi that many governments have followed in an attempt to hide, suppress, or manipulate data on crime or sexual violence perpetrated against women when that violence is carried out by migrants in order to discourage public debate on demographic and security risks, and even to criminalize discourse that questions official narratives as hate speech. One of the most striking examples of manipulation in the report concerns the publication of the FBI’s annual crime data for the country, which, according to the Biden administration, showed an estimated 1.7% decrease in violent crime in 2022. However, a subsequent review showed that there had actually been a 4.5% increase and that the initial publication had ‘overlooked’ 80,029 violent crimes, including 1,699 murders and 7,780 rapes.

Data that is inconvenient for the official narrative is disguised or outright suppressed, which, as the report points out, contributes to a widespread decline in trust in the media and institutions. This is the case in the United Kingdom, where, in 2024, foreigners were three times more likely to be arrested for sex crimes than British citizens, or in Sweden, where almost two-thirds of convicted rapists are migrants or foreign-born.

The response of those who refuse to accept reality ranges from ‘suicidal empathy’—a distortion of liberalism in which unlimited tolerance undermines women’s rights—to cancel culture, hate crime, or denial. “When women say they feel unsafe walking home but are told by official figures that crime is down, when mothers worry about their daughters in locker rooms and are accused of bigotry for doing so, when female academics raise questions about sex-based rights and face career-ending retribution—these are not fringe anecdotes. They are the symptoms of a society in denial.”

The report also ranks countries according to the situation of women. At the bottom of the list—the worst countries for women—are Afghanistan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. Despite receiving billions in foreign aid, these countries are plagued by anarchy, tribalism, and utter moral collapse. “Aid is not a substitute for Civilization … Humanitarian aid cannot compensate for the lack of legitimate governance, moral norms, or civic responsibility. In fact, chronic dependency on foreign aid often breeds corruption, passivity, and black-market exploitation.”

On the contrary, the Nordic countries occupy three of the top five spots on the list: Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Luxembourg. However, Sweden is a good example of the danger posed by open-door immigration policies. Considered a model of tolerance and progressivism, Sweden has shifted to the right in response to the massive influx of asylum seekers, which doubled from 81,301 applications in 2014 to 163,000 in 2016. Serious problems with integration and crime have exposed the danger of naive, feel-good policies and have had a profound impact on Swedish society, which explains the political shift: 

For the first time in over 50 years, Sweden now has net emigration since implementing strict reforms to limit migration into the country in an effort to crack down on the rise in crime from open border policies. Denmark and Sweden may be able to maintain their status at the top of the Index, but it has required a dramatic shift in social attitudes toward commonly progressive policies—like open borders—to maintain their stability. 

And the United States? The leading Western power ranks 37th out of 177. As in Europe, there has been an increase in violent crime rates and insecurity, as well as mistrust of law enforcement agencies: “Many U.S. cities have pursued policies that weaken law enforcement, incentivize lawlessness, and abandon victims, particularly women and children.” Added to this are the problems caused by the instability of the family model; according to the report, the data leaves no room for doubt: family breakdown has a greater negative impact on women. “Women are more likely to experience poverty, burnout, and social vulnerability when the family unit collapses. In many communities across the United States, the breakdown of marriage and the rise of fatherlessness have created cycles of instability and generational hardship.”

A separate issue is the effect of woke and identity politics, which have had the effect of making American women more vulnerable: “Radical gender ideology has eroded the legal and cultural boundaries that once protected women. From allowing biological males in women’s sports and prisons to erasing sex-based data collection.”

The change of government, with the arrival of Donald Trump and his decrees against woke ideology, opens a new period in the United States, which is currently at a crossroads; 

its wealth and freedoms are tempered by rising insecurity, family fragmentation, and cultural disorientation—challenges that mirror Europe’s own struggles with unchecked migration, antisemitic surges, free speech curtailments, and the distortions of radical inclusivity … True progress for women lies in reclaiming the moral clarity that distinguishes liberal democracies: affirming that not all cultures or ideologies are equal in their respect for human dignity, and that women’s security is non-negotiable.

“Strength sustains freedom, and freedom safeguards women.” To protect women, the West must be free and strong. The report highlights the following imperatives for achieving a world in which women are not mere survivors but architects of prosperous societies: defend free expression unyieldingly; enforce borders and integrate with integrity; reaffirm moral clarity and biological reality; foster transatlantic solidarity and institutional renewal; and unabashedly support women’s rights and equality: 

What makes the West exceptional is not perfection. It is the freedom to confront imperfection. If we abandon that freedom—if we shame, silence, or prosecute those who highlight the cracks—then we will have forfeited the very principles that made our civilization a beacon for women across the world. 

As the report warns, what is at stake is being faithful to the values that have made us who we are. Otherwise, we will cease to be the West. The alternative is a much darker world.

You can find the full report here.