My new book, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, addresses a problem that few Europeans are willing to discuss: the undermining of women’s rights in multiple countries in the wake of mass migration.

In recent years, Europe has experienced a large influx of migrants. Approximately 3 million have arrived illegally since 2009, the majority of whom have applied for asylum. Two-thirds of the newcomers were male. Eighty percent of asylum applicants are under the age of 35.

The increase in numbers of young men, mostly from Muslim-majority countries, has brought to the surface a problem: their regressive attitudes to women. At their worst, these attitudes have caused a spike in sexual violence and harassment.

The arrival of a vaccine means that Europe will eventually return to normal. Unfortunately, for many women across Europe, normal means fending off sexual harassment and assault which has significantly increased in recent years.

Even COVID lockdowns have not managed to put an end to these assaults. In May 2020, a 48-year-old Naples woman was raped while waiting for a bus. With the city in lockdown and few people about, a Senegalese man allegedly sexually abused her for 45 minutes.