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“I’M NOT SORRY I hit him,” says Jolene*.
“When the drug dealers he owed money to called to my door and wanted me to settle his debts, I’d had enough.”
Jolene had tried over and over again to persuade her son Barry, 17, to get help for his addiction but she couldn’t get through to him.
“He started to cry and walked out. I didn’t see him again until it was too late,” she says.
Jolene is a single mother living in a large local authority housing estate. She and Barry’s father separated three months after he was conceived.
“We were young and we were stupid and staying together made no sense,” Jolene says. “I never blamed him. He works in England now.”
Gang Life
Gangs have always been a part of life on the estate where Jolene lives. She can remember being taken aside by a friend of her father’s when she was in her early teens in the mid-1990s.
“He told me that if I got in trouble – the sort where someone needed to be warned off, I could always call on him,” she says. “I suppose, even then, I knew he was a bad guy, but around here he was sort of a hero too.
People respected him – at least, that’s what I thought. Now I know it wasn’t really respect, it was fear.
Barry’s early schooling was blighted by behavioural problems. When he was seven, an educational psychologist diagnosed him with Attention Deficit Disorder, a behavioural condition that makes sustained concentration and following instruction difficult.
“He hated school,” Jolene says. “He was always getting into trouble. There was a couple of special needs assistants in his class, but they still found him difficult to manage. I’d hoped he would be real smart and go to college, but those dreams died fast.”
Jolene acknowledges that she dealt with the pain of those difficult years by self-medicating. “I’ve got the medical card, and it wasn’t hard to persuade my GP to prescribe me tranquilisers.
I used to wash down the pills with vodka from Lidl, and I was off my head pretty much all the time for a couple of years. Barry had to look after himself and that was when the real trouble started.
Barry was 10 years old when his mother began to succumb to alcohol and drug addiction. Vulnerable and left to his own devices, he was approached by members of a local gang who asked him if he wanted to earn some money.
“They would meet him on his way to school several mornings a week. He’d be handed a package to take with him to school,” she says.
“At the break, he would go and stand by the railings, and his job was to pass this bundle to a man who would stop just the other side of the fence, who would give him a parcel in return,” she says.
Did Jolene have any suspicion what these packages contained? “Drugs and money,” she said without pausing.
“It’s kind of genius, when you think about it. I mean, what garda is going to stop and search a 10-year-old school kid?”
By the time Barry was 13, he was selling cannabis. “Everything he did was for the gang. When he did go to school it was to deal drugs, and all the teachers were afraid of him,” she says.
She knew that Barry had money, and it wasn’t coming from her, but then she found out he was robbing houses and stealing cars.
I heard he beat the hell out of a neighbour’s kid, and when I confronted him about it, he told me that the lad owed him money for dope. Then I found out he was using heroin, and everything went to hell.
Escalating addiction
Barry was still dealing, but as his own usage became more pronounced, his employers started to pay him with product.
Within a matter of months he was dipping in to his own stock, and that was when he stopped being useful to them, because he was injecting more than he was selling.
Jolene tried to persuade Barry to go into treatment; she put him out of the family home when he stole from her. “We didn’t talk for six weeks, but then when I found out he was sleeping rough, I gave in and let him back home,” she says.
When Jolene received a visit from two of Barry’s former employers, informing her of the extent of her son’s continued heroin usage, she thought at first they were expressing concern.
It wasn’t until they told me he owed them €3,000, and that if he couldn’t pay, the debt fell to me, that I understood what was going on.
“I hit the roof and told them to get the hell out of my house. They stood up to go, and, calm as you like, told me they’d be back.”
Barry came home later that night. When Jolene tried to express how frightened and angry she was, things degenerated rapidly.
He just laughed at me, suggested that maybe I should pay them. He said he knew I had money hidden away, that between the dole and the odd bit of work minding my neighbour’s kids, I could surely spare it.
“It was like he was saying it was my responsibility. That’s when I lost it.”
After she slapped him, Barry left the house and did not return. Jolene was worried, but was determined to follow a course of tough love this time.
“He texted me about three days later, begging to come home. It broke my heart but I didn’t respond,” she says.
Extortion
That very same day the attempts to extort money from Jolene began. That night she received a text message, from an unknown number, with a link to an article from the local paper. It was about a woman who had been beaten and raped and the article said that the woman was linked to gangland crime.
The next night an envelope full of dog droppings was put through her letterbox. The night after that, it was a burning box of fire-lighters, she says.
“Luckily I regularly check the batteries in my smoke detectors, because I’m a heavy sleeper. I got downstairs just in time,” she says. “I went to the gardaí after that.”
The police were extremely sympathetic to Jolene’s situation, and detectives from the organised crime unit spoke to the individuals involved. The harassment stopped, and for a week, Jolene thought her plight was over.
She was wrong. “I was woken up at 5 o’clock on a Sunday morning by my phone ringing. I answered, but all I could hear was what sounded like someone crying. I knew it was Barry.”
The call ended, and seconds later a message came through – a photograph accompanied by the following text: “Late payment fees have been added to your debt. Pay us €8,000 and you’ll get him back.”
The image was of Barry, his face beaten almost beyond recognition.
I thought about calling the gardaí for about thirty seconds… Then I looked at what money I had in the credit union, and worked out how much I could borrow.
The reunion with her son was painful.“I swore to myself I’d never let him go again,” she says. But deep down they both knew Barry needed to make big changes and that meant leaving his home and the life he knew.
Barry’s father sent them the money for a plane ticket to England. “He didn’t want to go,” says Jolene. “He’d never been further than 20 miles from home – but we both knew it was for the best.”
Barry had promised to Skype her every night and he has been in touch a few times. “He’s doing okay, his dad is looking after him,” she says.
Jolene has applied for a transfer to another local authority house. “I’ve lived here all my life, but it doesn’t feel like home any more,” she says.
I see them all the time, those people who hurt and intimidated my family, and I get terrified and angry all over again. They’re part of life here and they have been for as long as most of us can remember.
That won’t change any time soon. There isn’t a politician alive who knows how to fix this sickness.
Shane Dunphy is a child protection expert, author and broadcaster. He is Head of the Social Studies Department at Waterford College of Further Education.
*All names have been changed to protect anonymity
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“Succumb to alcohol and drug addition ” interesting choice of words which implies she had no choice
@David Grey: so holier than thou
@David Grey: It must be great up there in the high moral ground if that’s what stick out for you in that piece.
“There isn’t a politician alive who knows how to fix this sickness”.
Ehh, so this is politicians fault? Ever heard of personal responsibility?
@Brian Henoll: I’m alright Jack
@David Grey: Yes, thats the point about addiction- no choice. If there is choice, it’s nod addiction. Is that so hard to understand?
@Michael farrelly: david is dead right. Were to have sympathy for this lad because hes an addict? No chance… He gets to beat kids up for monies owed, rob houses and cars, deal drugs etc He then becomes addicted to herion. Sick of these characters ruining lives.
@Brian Henoll: Prohibition causes crime that would never exist, ergo every crime that result from prohibition, is a direct result of corrupt inhumane indolent minded politicians. All the politicians have to do, is to end their nefarious corrupt prohibition laws, that are akin to state terrorism on nice people, to resolve all drug crimes that result from prohibition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRvo9QabEIg
https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2057
@David Grey: Spoken like someone who has no idea of addiction nor an ounce of empathy. Amazing how people out themselves so publicly
@David Grey: That’s a fine lookin high-horse
@Derek Trotter: What a low level view of the situation, low IQ
@Padraig Bateman: why patrick ? Lets do what courts do, talk about his poor childhood and lack of guidance etc 120 plus convictions before we concider sending him to jail. Breaks into a house and robs a granny for her pension so he can stick a needle in his arm. When it happens to your family we ll see how your iq is.
@Derek Trotter: That’s the whole thing, he’s an addict, when you’re addicted you’ll do anything to get money to feed that addiction. If you were living in a family with no income, and at 10 years old your approached by an older gang and offered to make some money, you might go down that route. He was already diagnosed with ADD so maybe he knew his education wasn’t going to go well. Absolutely the courts should talk about his poor childhood, it’s certainly relevant to understanding how it came to that. You and your family must be the first in the world that are immune to addiction, fair play to you
@Padraig Bateman: padraig low iq ? Family immune to addiction ? Its ok to attack me for my opinion but not this poor lad who only done what he done because of addiction? No my family go to work and pay their way. I for one are sick of these characters. Ive grown up in dublin currently raising a young family in dublin but have to live in fear of these people in my area. Its not cool and it wasnt addiction when he first start selling gear.
@Derek Trotter: That’s not an attack, that’s my observation. No, when he first started getting involved with it he was 10. 10 years old, living with a single drug and alcohol addicted parent, and he was manipulated. You’ve a narrow minded view of the issue that so many Irish people have, and while you’re not the cause of the issue, you’ll never be the cure.
@Derek Trotter: From reading Padraig’s comments, there was no personal attack on you Derek. There was a clear and assertive expression of a different opinion to yours. Having lived the other side of the coin, I understand your views may be somewhat polarised, however that does not negate Padraig’s view.
As regards the choice to sell gear – quite correct in saying that it wasn’t addiction at that point. However, addiction was still clearly an integral and formative part of this child’s life. You sound like a responsible caring parent, while this poor lad was learning about life from an addict mother. Lets be fair, in an ideal world, he probably should have been in foster care at this point, with foster parents checking his homework every evening etc. But that was not his reality, and is not the reality for many children growing up in Ireland.
To suggest he had a choice suggests he was informed and educated of the perils of his decision making. Truth is, he barely stood a chance.
@Padraig Bateman: ok padraig fair enough you can observe that I have a low iq and who has a family amune to addiction because I have a differnt oppinion. A mechanic who lived close to me was shot dead for chasing a gang of lads bullying his young fella away from his house. He didnt cause the issue ? Granny in bray recently beaten up in her home for few bob, she didnt cause the issue ? No Im on the side of the victims which suggests to you ive a low iq. If the kid in the story has an excuse for his behaviour what about the adult? This cure I hope it comes along soon because as far as I know herion is ruining this country since the 80s.
@Juniper: where I take offence to Padraig is that because I see the situation differntly I have a low iq. I could throw hes niave and probably lives a sheltered life away from junkies ?
.
@Derek Trotter: My point about ‘family immune from addiction’ was to highlight to you that it can happen to anybody, even your own family. I don’t know you or your family so stop taking it personally. I never said these people caused the issue, you’re going on as if I’m supporting the actions of these gangs, I’m not. To prevent the actions of these people, you need to understand what causes them to behave like that, and most of the time they’ve had a difficult upbringing. The boy in this story had no male role model in his life, at 10 he may have seen getting involved with the gang as his first chance at support from older males. Have a bit of empathy. Heroin is ruining this country since the 80s, maybe its time for the likes of you to change your attitudes and see the good that will do.
@Padraig Bateman: ive pure sympathy/empathy for any child that has a crap upbringing but at what point does it become your own fault? At what point do people who try their best say enough ? I think its easier to be pc and say its not their fault. I agree you have to be given a moral compass in life. Ive respected your opinion and havent questioned your iq.
@Derek Trotter: I think the opposite, it’s easier to call people junkies and s**mbag for doing whatever they do, it’s a lot harder to show empathy to people who have done wrong because all you see is the outcome of their actions, not the cause. Any court case the journal report there’s always some genius with the original comment of ‘but sure he had a tough upbringing’, as if that shouldn’t be considered. I’m not saying crimes shouldn’t go unpunished, but when it comes to someone with an addiction, we all benefit when it’s treated as a medical issue and not a criminal one.
@Padraig Bateman: when a drug addict commits a crime it should be a medical issue and not a criminal one ? Wow wow wow…. padraig pleasue talking to you. Over and out
@Derek Trotter: way to totally misinterpret what someone is saying.
The point was if you treat addiction as a medical issue rather than a criminal one it helps you to start understanding the cause of the problem. Until you understand the cause of a problem or behaviour, it is very difficult to solve it.
This is totally different than to excuse it
@john doe: ok john we ve identified that herion addicts have medical issues and it relates back to a crap childhood. This bit i agree with no doubt.Now you might answer me this question when is enough enough ?? Can a herion addict keep committing crimes and we have to excuse them ?
@Derek Trotter: Opioid heroin is made for the medical profession with zero crimes, albeit the US prescription companies deliberately created legal addicts, without any police arrests “Aggressive marketing of painkillers made from opium poppy led to a generation of addicts and the deaths of almost 100 people a day from overdoses”
You can give people free heroin and other help to remove crime. The two main causes of hard drug/alcohol usage/abuse is socioeconomic and mental health problems and until politicians address this, problems will persist.
We have far more crime and harm from alcohol/tobacco and sugary drinks alone kill near two hundred thousand a year, with zero arrests against the producers of those harmful products. Gaelic football routinely has vicious fights on and off the pitch, even with spectators beating the hell out of each other, but no cry form the populace/politicians etc to make football illegal and jail hundreds of thousands for been part of the GAA. Nearly everything that you do in life can be made illegal using prohibition laws.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/25/americas-opioid-crisis-how-prescription-drugs-sparked-a-national-trauma
https://www.ncadd.org/blogs/in-the-news/2-5-million-alcohol-related-deaths-worldwide-annually
@KingCrisp: we ve established all the bad things in the world here thank you. Is your answer to stop crime to give people free drugs ? Hence no need to sell/buy etc if it is fair enough but I cant see the powers to be agreeing. My question still is when is enough enough ? How many crimes and what level of crime ? Until addicts can no longer use it as the reason. Can you murder somebody if your an addict and your past/addiction be the reason.
@Derek Trotter: “Is your answer to stop crime to give people free drugs ?” Yes from above “You can give people free heroin and other help to remove crime.”
They would not be using heroin if there wasn’t “socioeconomic and mental health problems and until politicians address this, problems will persist.”
People have to be in a very bad place if they resort to using heroin and our society/politicians can help prevent people from resorting to using heroin, by helping with mental health(many factors from abuse/poverty etc) and improving impoverished areas.
“My question still is when is enough enough ? How many crimes and what level of crime ? Until addicts can no longer use it as the reason. Can you murder somebody if your an addict and your past/addiction be the reason.”
All crime has to be either punished, or helped with, depending on the crime, but our politicians have to try and prevent the circumstances that result in crime/addiction. Portugal reduced heroin usage by half, by decriminilising all drugs. Giving free heroin(legalise so people can get help without fear of prosecution) and the proper resources to help end addiction etc, like using cannabis from below “US scientists have shown in medical studies that cannabis helps people to stop using heroin. Ironically some US politicians say cannabis is as bad as heroin and politicians worldwide say cannabis should be illegal.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/war-on-drugs-british-medical-journal-heroin-cannabis-cocaine-a7417171.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/addiction-cannabis-harm-reduction/index.html
@KingCrisp: fair play for answering weather your right or wrong I dont think we ll ever find out in this country. I find on the subject of herion addiction and crime its easy to say about the poor backround and no parental guidance. Which is 100 percent right but when you challange people on the subject with a question like when does your backround stop being the reason or that your simply fed up people accuse you of having a low iq or not experiencing hard times in your life. Im personally fed up of drug abusers in dublin.
@KingCrisp: bet you not give job to drug abuser
@Derek Trotter: You didn’t understand the point I was making. But that’s okay, I understand that maybe there are underlying reasons for the lack of understanding and I won’t judge you for them. Il show empathy.
@Padraig Bateman: ill ask you one last time? How many crimes does an addict have to commit till we say enough or can he/she keep doing it until they get clean or die ? And we say its not their fault its the addiction ?
@Derek Trotter: for the record i have no issues with addicts who work to pay for their addiction my problem purely lies with the ones that committ crimes for their addictions. Mugging elderly people, murder etc etc . Padraig yet again you get personal suggesting underlying problems, which suggests to me you see yourself above me. I think in life we all have problems and as im not an addict i cant commit crimes to fix them as I dont think your empathy would stretch that far.
@Derek Trotter: That’s a rhetorical question, there shouldn’t be a set number on it. Instead, we treat drug use as a medical issue, not a criminal one. That way the addict gets the help they need and the crimes they would’ve committed in the future to feed that habit won’t happen. Alternatively we can continue to lock people up for drug use, then put them back on the street as addicts, with no job prospects and wait for them to rob the next person to feed their habit. I’m not saying make them immune to prosecution but give them a chance to turn their life around, that benefits everyone. First step is decriminalisation of drug use/possession. If you don’t believe me look at the affect decriminalising drugs had in Portugal. The numbers don’t lie.
@Padraig Bateman: that sounds brilliant so why havent we put in place ? You dont know herion addicts nor have you ever had to deal with them and thats a fact. We all move to never never land where drug addicts get free drugs slowly come of them and get a job. One glitch back to the childhood no male/female role models. We ll never agree Padraig quite clearly we grew up in differnt parts of this country.
I know someone with a similar though even sadder experience. The young child in question took his own life after being beaten to pay his drug debt. At his funeral his parents were offered condolences by the drug dealers and told that the debt passed to them.
@Stuart Wootten: that is truly appalling, can’t imagine their trauma.
Drug dealing and intimidation should be illegal.
@Tom: They are
Kids in Ennis payin dealer in kind, everyone knows, guards have been told no-one will speak up
@glenoir1☘️ m: would you confide in a guard?
That poor woman, my heart goes out to her.
That’s what happens when you grow into poverty. It’s a vicious circle.
@Mary Walshe: No it’s not. Plenty of people grow up with nothing and do alright. A hell of a lot more than go the other way. Also the dole and working on the side is not poverty by a long stretch. Just because a few slip through the cracks doesn’t mean everyone is the same.
@Mary Walshe: such an ignorant comment to make
@Suzanne Bell: such an ignorant comment to make
Don’t let them get you down. Dealers are the curse of mankind.
@Alan foggorty: All drug dealers have been created by corrupt politicians ever since Nixon, for vote garnering on deluded people that are suffering from ‘Mass moral delusional hysteria’ that happened in the witch hunts. Just look at your and others comments here, that think drugs should be illegal, whilst you take the most dangerous drugs in the world legally. All politicians have to do is to end their corrupt insane war on drugs, that is actually a war on nice people whilst perpetually funding gangland mafias.
http://www.sciencealert.com/sugary-drinks-kill-an-estimated-184-000-people-annually-study-finds
https://www.ncadd.org/blogs/in-the-news/2-5-million-alcohol-related-deaths-worldwide-annually
@KingCrisp: heroin , or did you even bother to read ALL of the article!?
@KingCrisp: have you ever considered that criminals ( the minority of smarter ones ) embark on criminal activity because of the perceived higher profits compared to the legal economy. Fuel laundering, drug dealing or production, loan sharking, you name it. Do you really think that complete repeal of all prohibition on illegal drugs will stop criminal activity by those involved in the trade ? I think you may end up poorer by one illusion.
@ross mcgee: Did you read my comments or the links provided. Heroin dealers would eventually not exist if it was made legal. Legalisation will vastly reduce it’s usage as shown in Portugal with a 50% reduction using decriminalisation and this can go to zero if poverty is eradicated along with proper mental health care.
All drugs should be legal and hard drugs usage will vastly be reduced or eventually eliminated. Alcohol/tobacco is far more dangerous than heroin. The British medical Journal/Top Police and intelligentsia all say to end the war on drugs and to legalise all drugs. There is no logic to have any drug illegal. Will you go to the pub and arrest and jail everyone. Nearly everything you do in life can be made illegal using prohibition laws. US scientists have shown in medical studies that cannabis helps people to stop using heroin. Ironically some US politicians say cannabis is as bad as heroin and politicians worldwide say cannabis should be illegal.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/war-on-drugs-british-medical-journal-heroin-cannabis-cocaine-a7417171.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/addiction-cannabis-harm-reduction/index.html
@Steven Moens: The UK and our government are fully complicit in fuel laundering as they only issue very small fine, whilst they make millions. This is all part of the good Friday agreement under the carpet deal. They should change the money subsidy for farmers with a rebate system. If there is no profit there will be no market for criminals.
As for criminals and selling/importing drugs they are the only one doing this and if you legalise drugs, their market will be vastly reduced and it can be eliminated fully if you use the Uruguay model by removing any chance of profit for criminals by selling drugs at a very cheap price and by letting people people grow their own cannabis. If you create a legal market for drugs people will use this market and reduce criminal markets. Do you want gangland mafias to perpetually make money from drugs that should be legal. There is no logic to your statement, or drugs been illegal and your stance gives criminals a perpetual cash cow, whilst terrorising nice people.
There is hardly any illegal alcohol on the market as it is taxed heavily but no where near as much as tobacco, ergo the resulting larger black market for tobacco. But this still only accounts for 13% of cigarettes and 15% of rolling tobacco.
Cannabis is not going to be taxed any near as much as tobacco and probably much less than alcohol and it would be fatuous for any government to do otherwise. The US has a 21% business tax rate and I think that applies to cannabis.
Cannabis prices have halved already in the states and they will reduce a lot more in the coming years, ergo they will not be lucrative enough for criminals. Cannabis production keeps on reducing for legal cannabis production whereas gangland mafias costs remain the same, ergo they are priced out of the market. Uruguay has bypassed the black market by producing at very low prices. This means that most people will get it from legal sources.
“Almost 75% of drugs offenses last year were ‘possession for personal use’” Legalisation will free up Garda resources. With the vastly diminished gangland mafias operating in the drugs trade, the Gardai won’t have to deal with serious criminals nearly as much.
Revenue gained and police will have great resources to go after actual crimes/criminals. It really is that simple and nice people won’t be terrorised/jailed by the state for no reason :)
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/thirteen-per-cent-of-cigarettes-sold-are-contraband-says-revenue-1.3473855
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/almost-75-of-drugs-offences-last-year-were-possession-for-personal-use-1.3542251
Happens alot young people flea and there’s a knock on the door ,eejits with no brains only out for an easy buck,teach kids to work for a wage and dont hand them everything ,that kind of work never last to long.
Legalisation removes criminality and also generates revenue for the country, i am not saying this to create new addicts, just to moderate the present ones, take the black market value, away.
Kill your local drug dealer
@Seosamh Púinse: Are you going to murder your local barman, tobacconist, fast food merchant, sweet shop owner who sell drugs/harmful products that kill millions per anum Or are you going to kill with your repugnant blood lust all of the politicians who created every drug dealer and crime that results from insane inhumane prohibition laws, that are only for vote garnering on scared deluded indolent minded people. Nearly everything you do in life can be made illegal using prohibition laws.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/war-on-drugs-british-medical-journal-heroin-cannabis-cocaine-a7417171.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DK-PUu5q0M
@KingCrisp: The local barman, tobacconist, fast food merchant, sweet shop owners don’t turn up with menaces at your door to intimidate you or extort money from you, or worse. So your comaprison is null and void. Hope that helps.
@Ronan Sexton: *comparison
@Ronan Sexton: Drug dealers only exist because of corrupt prohibition laws, that our politicians perpetually create.The local barman, tobacconist, fast food merchant, sweet shop owners all sell drugs that kill/harm millions. If you take their products and refuse to pay do you think they will do nothing. They will call the Gardai, or a bouncer might beat them up. Due to their businesses been legal they can have recourse with the help of the Gardai and courts. The problem with the black market is not all dealers will be nice due to the murky world that has been made from fatuous drug laws. If drugs are legal you won’t have this problem. If alcohol/tobacco/sweets/fast food etc are made illegal, you will have the same problems of crime from prohibition, as you do from current drug prohibition.
Read my comment again, dare I say, I hope that helps. A by the by you haven’t critiqued Seosamh open call to murder people.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/legal-and-political-magazines/alcohol-and-crime-prohibition-experiment
The dealers may have relations who offer “finance solutions”
Too out of her bin to give a flute bout the lad, good kick up the hole for him
The only way to control drugs is to legalise, regulate and Tax them.
Take the power away from the Criminals.
You would think there would be enough evidence to convict the dealers
Woefull parenting sends alot of kids to drugs…. Needs to be said…
Where are all those feminists protesting now? Why can’t I see massive demonstrations to save this poor girl?
Or do the feminists only protest when someone says that burka does not belong into civilized society? There are 10s of millions of women in islamic countries forced to wear burka, but feminist in western Europe protest when someone says they should act like they live in the west and should integrate into the society.
She will be killed by one of her brothers or by her father for shaming the family.
The will kill her, because she removed her veil, because she wanted to be free.
But feminists here will be out protesting for muslim women and their right to wear burka.
If I wear a helmet, I can’t even get in the bank or supermarket. Imagine wearing a balaclava. There is nowhere in koran written, that women have to wear burka. Why are they allowed fully covered in the public, in banks, in shops? and I am not? That’s a discrimination. Their religion does not dictate anything like this, so I don’t understand why they have such an exception.
have your say