It’s five years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, erasing, almost overnight, the human rights gained in the previous 20 years. 

A western occupation had its problems. A Brown University study found it cost allied powers around $2 trillion. 

But for two decades it empowered many women and girls to live as full citizens. 

Now they face what Afghanistan’s former human rights chief is calling a “femicide”. 

GUEST:

• Shaharzad Akbar is a human rights activist from Afghanistan, currently in exile and a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford

Almost every UN member country has signed covenants to guarantee human rights. 

But what happens when there’s a clash of rights, such as personal identity versus religious liberty? 

Some battles end in the courts but official human rights agencies are trying to balance these claims. 

The Templeton Foundation is funding a $1.2 million global study of the issue. 

GUEST:

• Queensland University law professor Nicholas Aroney is project leader.

Have democratic socialists in the US bagged the biggest catch of all in Pope Leo?

Twenty-five years ago – September 11, 2001 – an Islamist terror group emerged from its refuge in Afghanistan to strike down two symbols of America.

They are, right now, the hottest thing in American politics. 

The conviction of the Catholic bishop of Broome raises new questions about the ability of the church to investigate itself, especially in cases of abuse. A court found Christopher Saunders guilty of 12 counts of sexually abusing two young men and one count of rape. But it took eight years from when the allegations arose to get a criminal conviction. Now one of the world's leading experts on church law says Australia's bishops should establish an independent tribunal of senior jurists to act swiftly against abusive clergy. 

The conviction of the Catholic bishop of Broome raises new questions about the ability of the church to investigate itself, especially in cases of abuse. One of the world's leading experts on church law says Australia's bishops should establish an independent tribunal of senior jurists to act swiftly against abusive clergy. 

Plus, the female exodus from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). An insider take on what it means for the church. 

Also, has a generation of men become demoralised — in every sense?

GUESTS:

• Professor Rik Torfs from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, civil and canon lawyer. He's also a former member of the Belgian parliament.
• Dr Jana Reiss, columnist with the Religion News Service, and a member of the Mormon church.
• Dr Tanveer Ahmed, psychiatrist and writer. 

This program is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known as the Mormons, is an American original. It's a religion that grew out of the US to become a global church. And for decades, faithful women were its mainstay — well-educated, conservative, committed to family and community. But new research has shocked the overwhelmingly male leadership of the Mormons. More than half of all Gen Z women who grew up in the church have left. What does this mean for the church? 

GUEST: 

Dr Jana Reiss, columnist with the Religion News Service, and a member of the Mormon church.

Is there a growing moral crisis among young men? In an essay for the online magazine Quillette, prominent psychiatrist, Tanveer Ahmed, takes a deep dive into statistics about young men who are dropping out of the labour market — and worries about the deeper consequences. Has a generation of men become demoralised — in every sense? 

GUEST: Dr Tanveer Ahmed, psychiatrist and writer. 

In New South Wales, the Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating claims that the head office of Catholic schools – but not the schools themselves -- employed some staff to work primarily on factional activities for the Liberal Party. There’ve also been allegations that the organisation paid a consultant who then funnelled his money to a faction known as the Reformers. 

But first, the ABC’s head of religion, Noel Debien, has been watching the proceedings at ICAC and is here with an update.

GUESTS:

• Noel Debien is a religion expert and broadcaster, and heads the Religion and Ethics unit at ABC Radio National
• Anne Benjamin is a respected educator, who was Director of Schools for the Parramatta diocese.