Women's Rights In Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, Women’s rights were very denied and completely dismissed. Women were treated horribly. They were beaten, abused verbally, and even killed. Under the rule of the Taliban, women were better off staying in the safety of their own homes.

Prior to the rise of the Taliban, life for women in Afghanistan was improving dramatically. In Laila’s father’s words, “Women have always had it hard in this country… But it’s true, it’s a good time to be a woman in Afghanistan” (Hosseini 121). Women were able to teach in universities and schools and even hold office in the government. However, once the Taliban came to power in 1996, women were stripped of their basic rights and practically ordered on house arrest.

Women in Afghanistan still have very little say and are still being mistreated. Women before the Taliban had rights and were able to work and go out like men. During the 1920’s and before the invasion in 1979 women had some rights. When the Soviets invaded in 1979 and the war started women’s rights started to go away. In 1996 when the Taliban took over women’s rights were completely pushed back.

Although it isn’t as apparent in America as Americans tend to reject these connotations, gender roles exist all throughout human culture, causing things other than genitalia to be associated with the terms man and women. While gender roles vary with culture, typically these associations consist of men are expected to be strong, dominant and opinionated, while women are expected to be more reserved, submissive, and dedicate. These expectations leak into our views of people, causing people to judge others based off their gender first, instead of simply judging everyone as an individual from the get-go. while these generalizations can’t be helped as generalizing things is what people inherently do, the Taliban took it to another level. when

Afghan women seem to have better fortune in America than in Afghanistan. Before Amir and Baba moved to America the only women that were mentioned were not around anymore making it seem like they were not important in the first place. Once Amir and Baba were living in America there were female characters brought in to show that they were able to live their lives better than in Afghanistan. The women were better off in America even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan because they were no longer talked about as disappointments. The lack of women in the novel shows how the men thought of the women as if they were not as capable of doing the things they were able to. Baba was a business leader who did things that were unspeakable in Afghanistan

1. Abu Lughod argues that the “liberation” from burqas, wanted by American women for Afghan women, is an extension of colonialism and western domination because the western women fail to understand what liberation is for the Afghan women. Western women think that the Afghan women are unhappy with their religion because it physically restricts them. On the contrary, Afghan women like their burqas because they feel it brings them closer to Allah. They also culturally disagree with the openness of American fashion. The idea that western women do not take into account the Afghan woman’s perspective on life, and automatically assume that they are trapped by their way of life, can be compared to America’s way of “helping” nations that they believe

United States’ humanitarian relief efforts have recently focused much of their efforts on involving the livelihood of Afghanistan women. For decades, these women have been frequent victims of abuse, despite some success by authorities in prosecuting rape cases, forced marriages and domestic violence. Child marriage, selling and buying women to settle disputes, assault and more than a dozen other acts of violence and abuse against women are a common norm in Afghan society. About 87% of women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence. Incidents of violence against women remain largely under-reported because of cultural restraints, social norms and religious beliefs. Because of widespread discrimination, fears of social stigma

Being a woman in Afghanistan is hard for so many reasons but some of the reasons are that over half the Afghan girls are married or at least engaged by the age of 12. 60% of the Afghan girls are married actually married by the age of 16 and up to 80% of the marriages in the poor/rural areas are arranged or forced marriages. The men these young girls marry are usually a lot older, some of the men even in their 60’s or older and the girls might not meet the man they were arranged or forced to marry till the actual day of the wedding. With the widespread of poverty parents arrange marriages for their young daughters for many reasons like to repay debt, solve a dispute, to get rid of them so they don’t have to support them, they even do it to reduce

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

I do not agree at all with how women are being treated in Afghanistan. They are being put in jail for getting out of bad situations and the government is calling it “moral crimes.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that reporting if someone’s husband raped me is a crime against his wife. In the article, it says, “A woman named Gulnaz was jailed and sentenced to 12 years in prison after reporting she was raped by her cousin's husband. Her daughter was the product of the rape.” That is absolutely ridiculous. Why should that poor women be punished because her husband decided to rape her cousin’s cousin? If I was her, I would fought for my rights even if it killed me. It’s also disgusting how women are forced into marriage, then thrown

The Taliban became responsible for punishing those who committed crimes by killing the criminals. These acts started a small fear in the Afghanistan people. Soon, the Taliban group became a well armed and well funded militia with the support of a province in Pakistan. As soon as fear stirred among the Afghani people, the president of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, tried to create an alliance against the Taliban in Kabul, the capitol. This alliance fell through, and the president eventually fled Afghanistan. In December of 1995, the Taliban took hold of Afghanistan as a result.

Today in the post –Taliban era, women still struggle with their rights. Resolutions were produced and rights for women have advanced since September 11th but in order to move forward, much work needs to be done. Hundreds of years of repression for Afghan women will take a lot longer than a few years to actually revolutionize. There is violence towards women that are not practicing traditions customs and fear retaliations from the Taliban. Customs are difficult to change as well as government policies. (Bora Laskin Law). In Afghanistan, religious and cultural values, politics, and an uncertain acting government have played a major part in the struggle for women’s rights.

In 2010 a young Afghan women had her nose and ears cut off. Aesha Mohammadzai, first appeared on the cover of time magazine in 2010, shared her story on how her husband and in-laws cut off her nose and ears as punishment for trying to run away. Mohammadzai said: “Every day I was abused by my husband and his family. Mentally and physically; Then one day it became unbearable so I ran away." Three years later Mohammadzai began her reconstructive surgery. Aesha Mohammadzai now lives with a foster family, and is studying English in school. A true inspiration to Afghan women, Aesha Mohammadzai tells women who are being abused to stay strong and never lose hope (Phillip Caulfield.2013). This is just one of the many common punishments Afghan women receive. Mohammadzai is proof that still in today’s society women in Afghanistan are still suffering with extreme punishments. The life expectancy for a woman in Afghanistan is 44, one of the lowest in the world (Life as an Afghan Women.2013). Throughout the years, women have been forced to live in fear because of the way they have been treated. The consequences of punishments are not balanced with the actions that are performed, and women fight to hold their own. Afghan women have struggled with extreme, cruel and violent punishments. Women’s punishments are the result of the loss of their basic human rights.

Afghanistan, as well as much of the middle east, is ruled by men. Women are viewed as lesser, and in some places are viewed as nothing more than an object - a possession. Countries such as Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are notorious for their poor treatment of women (Selby). Afghanistan used to be much the same way - a terrible place for women to live. In the 80’s and 90’s, Afghanistan fell under the rule of the Mujahideen, and later the Taliban. During this time, women had very few rights and virtually no control over their lives. Women were not allowed to leave the house without a man, many were not allowed to work, and were required to be in burqa at all times outside of the home (Selby).

Today in the United States, freedom is taken for granted by almost all citizens. People think that because of the way our government is structured, not having freedom will never be an issue. This thought of peace and safety was similar to that of the women in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban reign, and before the government in Afghanistan was overthrown. Their fortunes would change in 1996 when the Taliban ended up controlling Afghanistan, and denying women of all their rights such as work, education, health care, and many more. The lifestyle women were accustomed to be forced to be drastically changed, and the country they once felt love for, they felt fear. Even though their regime only lasted for about 5 years, the Taliban took a