UN Ambassador Compares Struggles of Afghan Women to a College Student Who Lied About Rape

Yesterday U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power tweeted the following: 

From a wmn carrying a mattress on her campus to Afghanistan's Wmn's Nat Cycling Team, reaching true equality req showing change is possible.

— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) May 17, 2015

Power is referring to Emma Sulkowicz in this tweet. Sulkowicz is a young Columbia University student who carried around a mattress on her college campus as part of her own "carry that weight campaign." The goal was to show how heavy the burden of rape is on a woman. She said she had been raped and that she would follow her rapist with the mattress, the "weight," until he was brought to justice. There's just one problem: she made the rape up.

Paul Nungesser, the Columbia University student accused of raping fellow student Emma Sulkowicz, is now suing the university for doing nothing to stop Sulkowicz's harassment campaign against him, which he claims "effectively destroyed" his college experience, reputation, and future career prospects.

His lawsuit contains a wealth of new information about the contested sexual assault, including dozens of messages establishing Sulkowicz's sexual "yearning" for Nungesser, which she sent to him both before and after the alleged incident.

Just a few short years ago Afghan women had no rights at all. For Power to compare a Columbia University student who lied about rape to get attention)-- to women in Afghanistan is absurd, an insult and completely out of touch with the realities of true injustice in the world.