Women's Rights In Afghanistan Essay
Women’s Rights in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the worst countries to be a woman. Girls’ schools are frequently attacked, high-profile women’s rights advocates have been targeted and killed, and violence against girls and women continues to be a major problem (“Women in Afghanistan”). More females die during pregnancies and childbirth than almost anywhere else in the world. Life is hard for women fighting for their rights in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control first of Herat and then Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on September 27, 1996 and violently plunged Afghanistan into a brutal state of totalitarian dictatorship and gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of their basic human rights. …show more content…
Upon seizing power, the Taliban regime instituted a system of gender apartheid effectively thrusting the women into a state of virtual house arrest. Under Taliban rule, women were stripped of all human rights – their work, visibility, opportunity for education, voice, healthcare, and mobility.
When they took control in 1996, the Taliban initially imposed strict commands that banished women from work force. They closed schools to girls and women and expelled women from universities. The Taliban prohibited women from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative. They also went as far as to ordering the publicly visible windows of women’s houses painted black and forced women to wear the burqa (or chadari) – which completely covers the body, leaving only a small mesh-covered opening so that they will be able to see. They prohibited women and girls from being examined by male physicians while at the same time prohibited female doctors and nurses from working.
Women were brutally beaten, publicly flogged, and killed for violating Taliban decrees. In Kabul and other cities, a few home schools for girls operated in secret. In addition, women who conducted home schools were risking their lives or a severe beating. A woman who defied Taliban orders by running a home schools was killed in front of her family and friends. A woman caught trying to flee Afghanistan with a man that is not related to her was stoned to death for adultery. Women who were accused of prostitution were publicly hung.
More than 50% of Afghan girls are married or engaged by 10 (“Life as an Afghan Woman”).
Almost 60% of girls are married by 16. Women activists say up to 80% of marriages in poor rural areas are either forced or arranged (“Life as an Afghan Woman”). Most girls marry far older men – some in their 60s – whom they meet for the first time at their wedding. A lack of security from three decades of war, and the risk of kidnapping and rape, has also promoted many families to force their young daughters into marriage to repay debt or resolve a dispute. The implications of child marriage cannot be underestimated. Married girls do not continue their education and remain illiterate. They have babies while still young teenagers, increasing health problems and risking death for themselves and their children. Young wives also have a low status in the family and more likely to be abused by their husbands and/or in-laws.
Most girls do not go to school for more than six years. Currently there are almost double the amount of boys enrolled in school than girls. Only 40% of Afghan girls attend elementary school, only one in 20 girls attend school beyond sixth grade (“Life as an Afghan Woman”). Many Afghan families will only permit their daughters to attend all-girls schools close to home and few such schools exist. Other families believe it is unnecessary for girls to be
educated.
Islamic extremists insist women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a close male relative. The fact that girls live their husband’s extended families often results in them being treated like servants or slaves, compounding their isolation. Women’s legal standing is limited. According to Sharia law, a female’s testimony is worth ½ that of a man. In custody cases, children will usually be awarded to the father or grandfather. So divorce – even in extreme abuse cases – is less likely to be sought because a woman must be prepared to lose her children. Life is hard for women fighting for their rights in Afghanistan.
Works Cited
"Women in Afghanistan." Amnesty International. n.p., 05 Feb 2013. Web. 17 Sep 2013. http:///www.amnesty.org.au/afghanwomen/comments/31017/.
"Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls." Feminist Majority Foundation. n.p.. Web. 17 Sep 2013. http://www.feminist.org/afghan/taliban_women.asp.
"Life as an Afghan Woman." Trust In Education. n.p.. Web. 17 Sep 2013.http://www.trustineducation.org/why-afghanistan/life-as-an-afghan-woman/.
Afghanistan is one of the worst countries to be a woman. Girls’ schools are frequently attacked, high-profile women’s rights advocates have been targeted and killed, and violence against girls and women continues to be a major problem (“Women in Afghanistan”). More females die during pregnancies and childbirth than almost anywhere else in the world. Life is hard for women fighting for their rights in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control first of Herat and then Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on September 27, 1996 and violently plunged Afghanistan into a brutal state of totalitarian dictatorship and gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of their basic human rights. …show more content…
Upon seizing power, the Taliban regime instituted a system of gender apartheid effectively thrusting the women into a state of virtual house arrest. Under Taliban rule, women were stripped of all human rights – their work, visibility, opportunity for education, voice, healthcare, and mobility.
When they took control in 1996, the Taliban initially imposed strict commands that banished women from work force. They closed schools to girls and women and expelled women from universities. The Taliban prohibited women from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative. They also went as far as to ordering the publicly visible windows of women’s houses painted black and forced women to wear the burqa (or chadari) – which completely covers the body, leaving only a small mesh-covered opening so that they will be able to see. They prohibited women and girls from being examined by male physicians while at the same time prohibited female doctors and nurses from working.
Women were brutally beaten, publicly flogged, and killed for violating Taliban decrees. In Kabul and other cities, a few home schools for girls operated in secret. In addition, women who conducted home schools were risking their lives or a severe beating. A woman who defied Taliban orders by running a home schools was killed in front of her family and friends. A woman caught trying to flee Afghanistan with a man that is not related to her was stoned to death for adultery. Women who were accused of prostitution were publicly hung.
More than 50% of Afghan girls are married or engaged by 10 (“Life as an Afghan Woman”).
Almost 60% of girls are married by 16. Women activists say up to 80% of marriages in poor rural areas are either forced or arranged (“Life as an Afghan Woman”). Most girls marry far older men – some in their 60s – whom they meet for the first time at their wedding. A lack of security from three decades of war, and the risk of kidnapping and rape, has also promoted many families to force their young daughters into marriage to repay debt or resolve a dispute. The implications of child marriage cannot be underestimated. Married girls do not continue their education and remain illiterate. They have babies while still young teenagers, increasing health problems and risking death for themselves and their children. Young wives also have a low status in the family and more likely to be abused by their husbands and/or in-laws.
Most girls do not go to school for more than six years. Currently there are almost double the amount of boys enrolled in school than girls. Only 40% of Afghan girls attend elementary school, only one in 20 girls attend school beyond sixth grade (“Life as an Afghan Woman”). Many Afghan families will only permit their daughters to attend all-girls schools close to home and few such schools exist. Other families believe it is unnecessary for girls to be
educated.
Islamic extremists insist women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a close male relative. The fact that girls live their husband’s extended families often results in them being treated like servants or slaves, compounding their isolation. Women’s legal standing is limited. According to Sharia law, a female’s testimony is worth ½ that of a man. In custody cases, children will usually be awarded to the father or grandfather. So divorce – even in extreme abuse cases – is less likely to be sought because a woman must be prepared to lose her children. Life is hard for women fighting for their rights in Afghanistan.
Works Cited
"Women in Afghanistan." Amnesty International. n.p., 05 Feb 2013. Web. 17 Sep 2013. http:///www.amnesty.org.au/afghanwomen/comments/31017/.
"Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls." Feminist Majority Foundation. n.p.. Web. 17 Sep 2013. http://www.feminist.org/afghan/taliban_women.asp.
"Life as an Afghan Woman." Trust In Education. n.p.. Web. 17 Sep 2013.http://www.trustineducation.org/why-afghanistan/life-as-an-afghan-woman/.