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Women in Afghanistan |
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General Information
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Afghan War News > General Info > Women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the worst places to live in the world if you are a women. The culture of Afghanistan does not provide a favorable environment for women. Some things may have improved in Kabul and some of the northern areas of Afghanistan since the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in 2001. More girls and young women have greater access to education, employment and health services. However, this is not true of most rural areas in the south.
Life for women under the Taliban was extremely harsh. Once the Taliban began to take over power in Afghanistan the women of Afghanistan suffered - especially in the cities and in the north where women had more freedom and rights. Education, employment, and health care opportunities vanished. If women wore anything other than a burqa they could be whipped by the religious police. 1.
There have been many efforts to change the conditions for women in Afghanistan since 2001. Many of these programs funded by the international community through money provided to various Afghan ministries. Unfortunately, Afghan community and religious leaders associate the women reform efforts with modernization - and therefore a link with Western culture and society. 2.
Life has improved for women in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban. School enrollment has increased by 2.5 million for female students. In early 2012 there were nearly 70 women in the lower house of parliament out of a total of 249 seats. There has been better employment opportunities and greater access to health care. Women have obtained greater freedom of expression in the media.
Despite the improvements to the life of women in Afghanistan since 2001 there is much more that needs to be done. Forced marriage is still commonplace and rape victims are jailed because they committed "adultery". Access to medical care is spotty with more women dying of childbirth than any other country in the world. 5. Women are still subject to oppression. The practice of "baad" - when women are given in marriage to settle disputes - is common. Educational opportunities, although there have been improvements, have not been extended to all women. Women continue to be extremely dependent upon male members of the family. There is a lack of political will among the country's leadership to promote women's rights and equality.
Attempts to institute women centric programs with the government of Afghanistan have been frustrating. Due to inefficiency, cultural differences, and corruption there has not been much traction in this area with the top down approach working through the Afghan government. Some experienced humanitarian workers advocate a more local solution to change the environment for women in Afghanistan - such as home-based enterprises where Afghan women can provide a needed community service from her home. 3. The Western nations are not powerless in attempts to improve the lot of Afghan women. A lot of money has been channeled toward women's health and education. Many girls schools have opened with funding from the United States and other nations. 4. These efforts should be continued but with an effort to track the project's progress and reduce the amount of corruption that lessens the impact of the project.
Ministry of Women's Affairs. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Women's Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan (WAPHA)
The Plight of the Afghan Woman by Afghanistan Online
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
Afghan Women's Mission
Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
Women's Rights in Afghanistan by WikipediA
Campaign for Afghan Women & Girls by Feminist Majority Foundation Women in Afghanistan. News on Afghan women by The New York Times.
I Had to Run Away. Human Rights Watch, March 28, 2012. Accessed here on March 28, 2012. A report on women and girls jailed in Afghan prisons who have been accused of moral crimes. Equal Rights, Unequal Opportunities: Women's Participation in Afghanistan's Parliamentary and Provincial Council Elections. Multiple authors, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), March 2012. Accessed here on March 13, 2012. Harmful Traditional Practices and Implementation of Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, December 9, 2010. Accessed here Feb 2012. Afghan Women Speak: Enhancing Security and Human Rights in Afghanistan. By David Cortright and Sarah Smiles Persinger. University of Notre Dame, October 2010. Accessed here Feb 2012. The "Ten-Dollar Talib" and Women's Rights. By Human Rights Watch, July 12, 2010. A report on Afghan women and the risks of reintegration and reconciliation warns against a future government agreement with insurgent forces. Accessed here Feb 2012. We Have the Promises of the World. Human Rights Watch, December 6, 2009. A report about women's rights in Afghanistan that details the emblematic cases of ongoing rights violations in attacks on women in public life, violence against women, child and force marriage, access to justice, and girl's access to secondary education. Accessed here Feb 2012. Campaigning against Fear: Women's Participation in Afghanistan's 2005 Elections. Human Rights Watch, August 17, 2005. Accessed here Feb 2012. "We Want to Live As Humans". Repression of women and girls in western Afghanistan; article is critical of the governor of Herat - Ismail Khan. Human Rights Watch, December 17, 2002. Accessed here Feb 2012. "Taking Cover". Women in Post-Taliban Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch, May 9, 2002. Accessed here Feb 2012. "Humanity Denied". Systematic violations of women's rights in Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch, October 29, 2001. Accessed here Feb 2012.
Situation for Women in Afghanistan. By Feminist Majority Foundation on USA Today, February 10, 2012. Accessed here on YouTube Feb 2012.
March 31, 2012. "Insight: Lifting the veil on Afghanistan's female addicts". Reuters.com. March 27, 2012. "Afghan women are being jailed for moral crimes, says report". The Guardian. March 2012. "Dairy goat project improves women's welfare in Afghanistan". International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). March 16, 2012. "Afghan Prison's Invasive Searches of Female Visitors Stir Fear of Slipping Rights". The New York Times. March 15, 2012. "U.S. must not abandon Afghan women to the Taliban". by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, CNN. March 8, 2012. "Afghans lampoon clerics over women ruling". BBC News Asia. March 8, 2012. "Are Afghan women better off after a decade of war?". CNN Opinion. Article by Heather Barr - an Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. March 8, 2012. "US: Don't Abandon Afghan Women". Human Rights Now Blog. March 6, 2012. "Afghan president endorses clerics' strict code of conduct for women, worrying activists". The Washington Post. March 2, 2012. "Afghan general breaks barriers to build better nation". NTM-A. February 22, 2012. "Determination defined: remembering an Afghan pioneer". The AFPAK Channel, Foreign Policy. February 16, 2012. "For Punishment of Elder's Misdeeds, Afghan Girl Pays the Price". The New York Times. February 16, 2012. "Ambassador Hakimi Speaks on the Role of Women in Afghanistan's Peace Process". Embassy of Afghanistan. February 12, 2012. "Afghan women fear Taliban return". AFP Google. February 12, 2012. "Baby Girls Seen As Mixed Blessing in Afghanistan". Radio Liberty. February 9, 2012. "Afghanistan's Opium Child Brides". The Atlantic. January 31, 2012. "Mistreatment of Afghan women caused by far more than Taliban". The Christian Science Monitor. January 28, 2012. "The Place of Women in the Afghanistan Peace Process". Forbes.com. January 13, 2012. "Afghan solutions for Afghan women". By Lael A. Mohib, The AFPAK Channel, Foreign Policy. December 23, 2011. "Afghan men: crucial advocates for women's rights". Reuters. December 5, 2011. "UN Women Urges Full Participation of Afghan Women in the Road Ahead from Bonn". United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment. December 2, 2011. "For Afghan Women, Rape Law Offers Little Protection". NPR. November 23, 2011. "Afghanistan has a long way to go in protecting women from violence". UN News Centre. November 9, 2011. "Clinton vows to fight for Afghan women's rights". Google Hosted News. October 20, 2011. "UN Women Launches Multi-Province Project on Ending Violence Against Women in Afghanistan". UN Women. October 6, 2011. "Afghanistan ten years on: women's views". The Independent. September 27, 2011. "Afghanistan's widows face a bleak fight for survival". Public Radio International. September 9, 2011. "Forgetting Afghanistan's women". The AFPAK Channel. August 24, 2011. "Afghanistan National Parliament to Establish Resource Centre to Promote Women's Role in Decision-making Processes". UN Women. March 8, 2011. "Women's rights in Afghanistan lose steam". The Christian Science Monitor. January 3, 2011. "Fleeing Violent Husbands Puts Afghan Women in Jail". Time. December 9, 2010. "Harmful traditional practices against women pervasive in Afghanistan". UN News Centre. December 2010. "Afghan Women - Veiled Rebellion". National Geographic. August 15, 2010. "How Settling With the Taliban Puts Women at Risk". Human Rights Watch. July 14, 2010. "The Taliban War on Women Continues". Human Rights Watch. March 11, 2010. "The Secret Shelters that Protect Afghan Women". ABC. August 18, 2009. "For Afghan Women, Rights Again at Risk". Human Rights Watch. August 14, 2009. "Afghanistan: Law Curbing Women's Rights Takes Effect". Human Rights Watch. April 15, 2009. "Afghan Women Protest New Law on Home Life". The New York Times. March 1, 2005. "The women of Afghanistan". CBC News. November 3, 2003. "Anthropologist discusses rise in status of women in Afghanistan". The Daily Princetonian. December 12, 2002. "Afghanistan's Women Still Need Our Help". Human Rights Watch. September 28, 2001. "Behind the burka". The Guardian.
1. For a detailed description of a woman's life during the Taliban era see "Women and Girls in Afghanistan", a fact sheet by the U.S. Department of State released March 10, 1998 accessed here in February 2012. 2. See "Anthropologist discusses rise in status of women in Afghanistan", The Daily Princetonian, November 3, 2003. The anthropologist Micheline Centlivres-Demont provided insight on the plight of Afghan women in a lecture. Accessed here Feb 2012. 3. Lael A. Mohib, a humanitarian worker in Afghanistan suggests that small-scale, local enterprises funded with micro-grants or -loans are a culturally acceptable solution for advancing the social and economic status of Afghan women. See her article entitled "Afghan solutions for Afghan women", The AFPAK Channel Blog, Foreign Policy dated January 13, 2012 accessed here February 2012. 4. One important improvement is the opening of schools for girls. See "Rising literacy in Afghanistan ensures transition", June 13, 2011, accessed here on army.mil Feb 2012. 5. The hardships that women face giving birth are astounding. Find more about this in Afghanistan is a killing field for moms, babies, by Rosie DiManno, The Star. Accessed here Feb 2012.
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