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Zaira Castilla
Mr Bullock
ENG 12
December 18, 2017

What would my life be like if I had been born Afghani?

Nowadays a crucial decision occupies my mind most of the time, should i stay and

continue my life in Canada or should i come back to my country? I am a 17 years old

Colombian girl currently studying in Canada and about to graduate from high school.

When debating this complicated decision with myself quality of education, job opportu-

nities, quality of life, access to good health care and how my future will look like are ma-

jor factors. However, this difficult decision that I am facing today would be for Afghan

girls of my same age across the globe a fantasy that they would not even consider pos-

sible to be real. Targeted violence, lack of rights, dismal healthcare, forced marriages and

desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country to be a woman.

This makes me wonder, how would be my life if I have been born in Afghanistan?

Education is often not an option for many women and girls in Afghanistan. Attacks by

insurgents mostly from the Taliban, a radically militant Islamic movement that controlled

Afghanistan between 1996 - 2001 and that follows a more strict version of Islam that

opposes women’s education lead to regular closures of girls’ schools in the north and

urban parts. However, according to the World Bank indicators about 78% of Afghan peo-

ple live in rural areas where life for women is mostly unchanged since the Taliban

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times. There women remain hidden, isolated from the outside world, in burqas and away

from schools. Women who do attempt to speak out are often intimidated or killed. This

explains us why Afghan women suffer from the lowest literacy rate in the world, at 13

percent (Gopal par 4). Only 5% of girls go to secondary school throughout the country

(Nelson par 2). This affects Afghan women hugely as lack of education make them more

vulnerable to oppression, inequality and to violation of their rights as they do not have

they capacity to stand up for themselves due to their ignorance and lack of knowledge.

On the other hand, Afghanistan is facing a crisis of child marriage, despite it being illegal.

Poor families often end up selling their daughters to repay debts, avoid the cost of caring

for them or for strengthening ties with rival families and tribes. Therefore, more than 50%

of girls in Afghanistan are married or engaged by the age of 12 and almost 60% married

by 16 (Nasimi par 9 ). Most females are forced to marry before completing high school

and live as housewives for the remainder of their life. This shows us that the implications

of child marriage cannot be overestimated, as it leads to serious issues as Afghan women

and girls suffering from Obstetric Fistula, what is medical condition where women have a

hole between the vagina and bladder or rectum usually caused by prolonged labour

without adequate health care or because young girls are not physically prepared to give

birth, being raped or sold into prostitution. These are devastating situations that lead to

both physical and social harm for women. Many Afghan women end up committing self-

immolation as a way out to all the violence that they have to support

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from their husbands and the increase of pregnancy related deaths as they have babies

while they still are young teenagers.

As Fawzia, a 19 year old Afghan girl who felt like she had no way out. Married off

to her cousin at age 16, she had been beaten routinely by her husband and in-laws in

their poor rural home in Paktia province for the first three years of her marriage. She

complained bitterly to her parents, but no solution seemed imminent. Marriage had be-

come too much for her to bear. Then, after she saw her brother-in-law strike his wife on

the head with a gun, Fawzia finally did what she had threatened to do many times before:

she doused herself in cooking fuel and struck a match. (Hauslohner par 1)

The mortality ratio of girls between 15 to 19 is at 531 deaths per 100.000 live births. This

is the second-highest maternal mortality rate in the world.(Brosntein par 6) Every 30 mi-

nutes, an Afghan woman dies from pregnancy issues.(Seerat par 1)

In addition, health care in Afghanistan is very poor. Afghanistan has been labeled the

worst country for healthcare for women by UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC). Up to 78% of Afghans in rural areas have no access to

health care at all. (Nasimi par 3) In particular, women’s reproductive health care is ab-

sent and less than 15% of births are attended by a professional. (Lopez par 4) In 2002,

it was estimated that there was 1 doctor per every 50,000 Afghan people. (Seerat par 3)

This show us a major issue for the Afghan population as Afghan women have a life ex-

pectancy of only 43 years old according to reports from The World Health Organiza-

tion.(Lopez par 1) Afghan women not only suffer from diseases related with pregnancy

but
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also from chronic diseases including malnutrition, malaria, measles and tuberculosis.

Tradition is also a root cause for the poor women health as husbands and male heads

of families refuse to permit male doctors treat the females from their families and with

few female doctors in the country, many illnesses are left untreated.

In conclusion, young girls in Afghanistan face several hardships as violence, poverty,

forced marriage, lack of education, high rates of maternal mortality, lack of health care,

lack of rights and opportunities between others. What makes Afghanistan the worst

world’s country to be a women. Considering all this issues that are an every day part of

the lives of Afghan women and teenagers, I could say that my life would be nothing si-

milar to what it is today if I have been born in Afghanistan. In Colombia as in Canada I

enjoy of well stablished human and women rights, I have the support of the government

to protect me from the violation of my rights, I enjoy an amazing education and health

care. I do have the luxury to choose where and what I want to study and I live as a free

individual who does not suffer from any kind of violence, poverty or pregnancy mortality.

If I have been born in Afghanistan I would not be having the luxury of being killing my

neurons trying to figure out whether i want to study my university in Canada or Colom-

bia but I would rather be marriage already, probably pregnant, living as a housewife, I

would have been forced to quit school already, I will be probably facing poverty and

supporting mistreatment from a way older husband, suffering from poor health and

bound to live the rest of my life in this way without any chance of seeking for better op-

portunities and life.

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Works Cited

(2002, November 06. Kabul) “Afghanistan is among worst places on globe for women's
health, say UNICEF and CDC”. Unicef

Bronstein, Paula (2016, May13) “Afghanistan and health care for women” Blooming Ute-
rus.

Gopal, Anand. “What you should know about women rights in Afghanistan” The world
post. N.D

Hauslohner, Abigail. (2010, July 07, Kabul) “Afghanistan:When women set themselves
on fire”. The Time.

Lopez, Eve “Facts about Afghan Women” Classroom. N.D

Nasimi, Shabnam. “The devastating truth of women’s rights in Afghanistan” Open Secu-
rity. July 11, 2014. N.D

Nelson, Cassandra. “Life in a rural Afghan village” Scholastic. N.D

Seerat, Samsama, “Child marriage still a challenge for Afghan girls” Rawa News. July 20,
2016 web August 1, 2016.