Not my cup of tea

Re: “Unite for gender equality”, (PostBag, Nov 25).

The Swedish ambassador says that Sweden pursues a “feminist” foreign policy. I can only assume however that he must be very disappointed that their principles have so far failed to make much progress in Thailand, where the various junta-appointed assemblies and committees are all female-free zones.

He does, however, elaborate at length about the issue of sexual violence, and also of gender equality which is a particularly hot topic. Indeed, I can’t help but wonder of what hundreds of millions of people around the world would think if they came across such examples of state-sponsored orthodoxies, which often seem to place current Western social attitudes on a higher moral and ethical plane than their own ancient and revered cultural traditions.

“Patronising” and “offensive” are a couple of responses that spring to mind.

The ambassador also lauds the #metoo movement, which has ruined the careers and reputations of many men by making allegations which have not been proven in a court of law, as far as I am aware. What happened to the basic legal principle of innocent until proven guilty?

Of course sexual violence and exploitation is wrong, and those guilty of such crimes should be brought to justice, but there is nothing ethical or admirable about a “lynch mob” mentality.

ROBIN GRANT