Cologne Sex Assaults - Similar to what happens in Birmingham every week.

trisher those figures are terribly out of date, have you nothing more recent? Who 'estimates' them anyway? I never understand this as no one has ever asked me if I am such a victim! I am also sure there is a lot of hidden violence against men which they feel unable to admit to.

However, Terri has made the appropriate point with which I agree.

It must be a fine line the politicians walk. Say too much and it creates uproar. Don't say enough and it creates uproar. What they shouldn't do is say something that's simply not true. We can make our own assumptions and I'd rather the authorities said nothing until they know the truth, rather than make statements full of half truths which then get passed on an distorted like a game of Chinese whispers. Mind you it doesn't take much and of course there's different languages to factor in. Nightmare.

Agreed Terribull how are we supposed to make informed decisions about Europe when politicians are dismissing or belittling reports of harassment and sexual assault by refugees/migrants who have no regard for how we expect to live our lives. I do not pretend to know what the answer is, but pretending that everything is fine and that all of Europe is one big happy integrated family does not help me to make my mind up.

TerriBull. Another very good post.
And as if the German government couldn't make it any worse, the authorities in Cologne have stated that there is no corolation between the sex attacts and the influx of migrants.

TerriBull good post.

Excellent post 'TerriBull' you say it all so I don't need to echo it, just to say I totally agree.

She seems an outspoken MP, let's hope a bit more experience will help her to avoid blurring serious but sepArate issues in future. she should have addressed events in Cologne directly

I think she has blurred two separate and serious issues and managed to cause offence in the process, but her intention was well meaning. I doubt if we'll see her on QT again anytime soon.

I wouldn't deny for one moment, that every day there are assaults on women by men right across the spectrum of race, social class etc., and I think we should also acknowledge, to a lesser extent, there are also assaults on men by women, that issue is really digressing somewhat from the main point. In Cologne on one night there were over 500 assaults on women, ordinary women going about their lives dressed in winter coats etc., not clubbing gear, 40% of those assaults were sexual, some were on the extreme end of sexual assault and in the main were carried out by men of Arab ethnicity. Surely this cannot be put into the same category as the behaviour of tanked up clubbers who spill out on to the streets in all our major towns and cities and where on occasions sexual assaults will take place, possibly, because some young people render themselves incapable of being responsible for their own welfare.

Bringing up domestic violence and the like deflects from the real issue here, which is, some northern European countries seem hell bent on going down the same politically correct route as those here who denied the girls of Rotherham and other places a voice for so long because it threw up some unpleasant facts about the contempt that A SECTION of Muslim men feel for European women and girls.

Nonnie Figures for assaults are
"The 2001/02 British Crime Survey (BCS) found that there were an estimated 635,000 incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. 81% of the victims were women and 19% were men. Domestic violence incidents also made up nearly 22% of all violent incidents reported by participants in the BCS (Home Office, July 2002)"
Even if you take off 200,000 to get women's numbers that's still over 400000- Often not occasionally.

I just shows a few unthinking words can cause such trouble. As an MP she should have more tact and intelligence.

This time last year Fox News broadcaster Steven Emerson claimed that Birmingham was a no-go area for non-Muslims and he was called a 'total idiot'.

Wasn't it Jess Phillips who said she would 'knife Corbyn in the front' ....

trisher did you really mean to say ^ that women are often subjected to such treatment^? I just don't believe that. Occasionally yes but not often.

The point she was making that the Cologne attacks were widely reported (possibly only because of the scare-mongering anti-immigrant attitude of the press) whereas every day there are assaults, not just in Birmingham but all over the place, that have no news value whatsoever is very valid. Her reply wasn't well phrased and may have been misconstrued by many, but the message that women are often subjected to such treatment is correct. It isn't anti-men to condemn men who are violent or abusive, nor is it blaming them for all the ills of the world, simply saying that there are some men who sometimes behave in an unacceptable manner. No doubt there are women who do the same.

Exactly KatyK

Well I live in Birmingham and I was so angry when I heard what this silly woman said. It was very ignorant. I wonder how many times she goes into Birmingham city centre at night? Rarely I would guess. DH and I are in our 60s and regularly go into Brum at night to shows etc. Some of the venues we go to are along the Broad Street area to which she referred. Yes, it is full of young people going from bar to bar. In all the years we have been going we have never seen one incident of violence or anything like that. In fact, to be honest, we have never seen any rowdy behaviour of any sort, the young people seem very good natured. Broad Street is well policed at night and the city is trying to encourage visitors and doesn't need this. I'm sure it would be widely reported in the media if this sort of thing was occurring in any of our city centres. I'm not saying there are never any incidents, but there are in most cities I'm sure. Birmingham is a lovely city now and it would be a shame if these stupid comments put people off visiting.

I think taxis are still allowed to run in Broad St on Fridays and Saturdays.

Like many other cities Birmingham has a club area where young people go out and party. Some of them drink too much and behave badly however the girls interviewed on the Midland news seemed to think it was confined to talk. I think they are far more likely to suffer from hypothermia than any kind of assault.

At the end of the same road is the International Conference Centre and Symphony Hall, the best concert venue in at least Europe. Also the award winning new library is there.

I suspect this rather silly woman got carried away with her own importance because she is a fairly new MP and thought her moment had come. She is madly backtracking now but has upset the Brummies and they may well remember when it is time for re-election.

Many years ago I lived in Brum and still have a fondness for it and often visit. I am very unhappy about this stupid, attention seeking woman, has defamed it. She is involved in 'women's issues' and seems to be one of those who goes way over the top and blames men for all the ills of the world.

(in my previous post I should have said 'all ways. not always'. soz

How could she acknowledge what happened in Cologne. That wouldn't back up the leftist view of come one, come all.
She's of the same ilke that run Rochdale council. At least Trevor Phillips spoke out last week and uttered the unthinkable ' Muslims don't integrate'

I wonder how they would describe attacks if it was the other way around? Young white men, sexually assaulting Muslim women?

Perhaps they should stop closing Broad Street (in Birmingham) to traffic at the weekends. Maybe they are encouraging over-exuberance/binge drinking. But I suppose they are thinking of the local economy. Can't have it always though.

In the Daily Telegraph today, Jean Claude Junker states that the Cologne attacks were merely a matter of "public disorder" and are not related to migration in any way. In the aftermath, after the initial cover up, it was found that a fair percentage of the perpetrators, if not most of them were migrants. I am not opposed to giving refuge to Syrians who need a safe haven, and I imagine many were horrified by being besmirched by a few. What pisses me off is politicians who continually seek to whitewash "bad happenings" because it doesn't fit with their agenda. How are we expected to make an informed choice about the EU in the forthcoming referendum when this sort of shit is being shovelled and the truth cannot be discussed.

Thanks Wilma, I feel reassured I haven't lost my moral compass/common sense. I don't like the way many people claim to have had their comments taken out of context but that might apply here. I've already said it would have helped if she'd been more critical of events in Cologne but she's right to remind us that women here face all kinds of unpleasant sexual harassment and 2 are killed by partners every week.

I have heard what she said now and it's being discussed on R4 at the moment. I now understand what she is saying and I agree with her to an extent, but I am not sure how change can be achieved.

Her comments were not really about Birmingham. She was making the point that here in the UK men are often disrespectful towards women and we should not look at what happened in Cologne and think we're in a superior place and rest on our laurels. Her comments are not race related, but relating to our culture.

There's an article on the R4 show in a little while wherethey went out last night on Broad Street.

I haven't watched QT yet, but she's wrong to connect whatever happens on Broad Street or in that area with the Cologne attacks. Women may well find themselves in trouble in any town or city in an area like Broad Street, but it's not like to be race related. It's much more likely to be alcohol related. If it was race related, women would avoid the area and they don't in Birmingham.