Women’s Rights In Afghanistan 1996 To The

Present
Afghanistan is one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman. More
women die in pregnancy and childbirth in Afghanistan than almost anywhere else in
the world. Recent statistics put that number at 1 in 50 or one every 2 hours. Life
expectancy for women is only 44 years, one of the lowest in the world and 9 out 10
women are illiterate. The only good news is that that these statistics have
substantially improved in the last few years since the fall of the Taliban in
2001(Levi).

In September, 1996, the Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control of Kabul, the
capital of Afghanistan, and plunged Afghanistan into a state of totalitarian
dictatorship and gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of all
human rights. During the rule of the Taliban (1996 ' 2001), women were treated
worse than during any other leadership in the history of Afghanistan. They were
forbidden to work, to leave the house without a male escort, to seek medical help
from a male doctor. Women were also forced to cover themselves completely from
head to toe, even covering their eyes. Women who were doctors and teachers
suddenly were forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their
families. Women accused of prostitution were publicly stoned to death in the soccer
stadium in Kabul. Many
women were brutally beaten, publicly flogged, and killed for violating Taliban
decrees (Levi).

Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, girl's education has improved. Since 2002,
the number of girls attending school has increased; however, an estimated 1.5
million school-age girls are still not enrolled in classes. UNICEF reported that 34
percent of children enrolled in school are girls, although this figure hides large
disparities from province to province, with enrollment as low as 15 percent in some
areas (Levi). While more girls and women are getting an education and are free to
move about, many families remain unwilling to take the risk. Extremists still believe
that if girls are visible outside the home, they lose respect and are at risk of
dishonoring the family. Engaged or married girls, even if they are young, are often
kept behind closed doors.
Other improvements include raising the minimum legal age for marriage for girls from
16 to 17. This has reduced the number of child marriages. Now, men who want to
marry girls under 17 cannot obtain a marriage certificate. Now, women can be
employed if their male relatives permit it, but with high unemployment rates, some
feel employing women takes jobs from men (Levi).
Fewer women die during pregnancy or childbirth. In addition to improvements in
infrastructure, education and healthcare, more women are receiving skilled care
before and during childbirth and fewer children die before age 5. Child mortality has
been decreased by half. Though the rate is still high, improvements in access to
clean water, electricity and sanitation, as well as better educated mothers, have
helped the save the lives of thousands of Afghan women (Levi).
Women have also gained some political rights. The Afghan constitution adopted in
2004 provides for equal rights and duties before the law for all citizens of
Afghanistan 'whether man or woman. Women even have been appointed to some
prominent positions in the government. While the Afghan government and
international community are working for women's rights, since most women are
illiterate, they are not engaged in the process. Thus the government has reduced
women's rights when it feels it is politically expedient. For example, in February
2009 President Karzai signed a law which affects several key rights of Afghan Shi'a
women. This law denies women the right to leave their homes except for 'legitimate'
purposes; forbids women from working or receiving education without their
husbands' permission; permits marital rape; diminishes the right of mothers to be
their children's guardians in the event of a divorce; and makes it impossible for
wives to inherit houses and land from their husbands ' even though husbands may
inherit property from their wives. While this law only applies to Shi'a (less than 20%
of women), the fact that such a law was passed at all indicates how easily women's
rights can be bargained away if women are still illiterate and isolated. (Ferris-
Rotman). The U.S. and international donors committed to Afghanistan's
reconstruction have been active lately in promoting Afghan women's rights and
supporting nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, and some
government entities in the efforts to empower Afghan women politically,
economically, educationally, and even in law enforcement. However, sociocultural
and extremist religious elements continue to pose serious obstacles to these efforts.
These constraints and barriers have an immensely devastating impact on the lives of
girls and women in Afghanistan, and most often result in severely impairing quality of
life and even reducing female life expectancy (Ferris-Rotman).
One glance at the health and education statistics pertaining to Afghan girls and
women alone is enough to see that improvements have been painfully gradual, and
attention to these harsh realities has been deficient. Primary school enrollment
figures have improved slightly over the last few years, for both females and males.
However, secondary school enrollment rates for females remain dismal. The main
impediments to female education in Afghanistan and among Afghan refugee
populations are related to security and safety. The primary security and safety
problems in the post-Taliban era include the following: criminal acts and behavior:
general lawlessness, warlordism, drug trafficking, and extortion; gender-specific
violence, such as rapes, gang rapes, murders, kidnapping, child and forced
marriages, and domestic violence and abuse; threats to girls and women from
fundamentalists including the Taliban, (Northern Alliance) mujahiddin, al-Qa'ida
members, and various mullahs; terrorism (including suicide attacks) and firebombing
of schools (especially girls' schools), the presence of foreign troops battling against
the Taliban and al-Qa'ida, and a generally increasing level of violence (Ferris-
Rotman). Though the gains for girls and women may seem small from an American
perspective, they are real. All change cannot be imposed by Western outsiders on
this tribal, Islamic, post-conflict society. It has to emerge through education within
the context of the culture.
Thirteen years after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the
military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but still much bad news
pertaining to women in Afghanistan. The patterns of politics, military operations,
religious fanaticism, patriarchal structures and practices, and insurgent violence
continue to threaten girls and women. Although women's rights and freedoms in
Afghanistan have finally entered the radar of the international community's
consciousness, they still linger in the margins in many respects (Ferris-Rotman).
Although there have been some gains and progress in women's rights and
empowerment in Afghanistan, the obstacles and challenges are disheartening. The
trends in violence against girls and women are especially discouraging and worrying.
Reforming the laws and penal codes, improving the judiciary, aligning the Ending
Violence Against Women law more closely with Afghan criminal law, criminalizing
rape and redefining it in a way that dissociates it with adultery, building awareness
of the plight of girls and women, and facilitating attitudinal shifts toward a more
gender balanced society are all very important. Seeking political expediency at the
expense of human rights, especially women's rights, must stop. Conflict resolution,
stability, and security are also necessary for rebuilding and reconstruction in
Afghanistan. Without the necessary infrastructure and appropriate institutional
structures in place, human rights efforts and educational goals will continue to face
major challenges and impediments (Alvi).
While Afghanistan has taken a step forward, at the same time it has been forced
several steps back. The international community, along with the Afghan government,
has to some extent supported girls' schools, literacy, and health care, but
insurgents, terrorists, thugs, and mullahs continue to block these efforts. The degree
of anarchy in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan undoubtedly supports the status quo.
Given greater law and order, security, and stability, there would not be such brazen
and pervasive criminal behavior and activities, such as the narcotics industry,
human trafficking, and warlordism. The international community is also implicated in
this. After all, had countries not invaded Afghanistan and triggered conflicts and
wars, and would that consumers worldwide stem their appetites for drugs,
prostitution, arms, and other such dark desires, some of the primary sources of
power and wealth of the Afghan militias, politicians, warlords, and power brokers
would be cut off (Alvi).
The vicious cycle of the lack of education, poverty, illiteracy, and violence and
insecurity fueling and supporting the highly patriarchal society, and even
fundamentalism and militancy, continues to exist in today's Afghanistan. Breaking
the cycle will take great resolve and courage, as many Afghan women and men have
demonstrated, sometimes paying with their lives (Skaine