Women in Afghanistan, Post-Taliban
There have been improvements. Virtually any change in the situation where women were forbidden to be out in public, even fully garbed, without a male relative present, where girls were not allowed to attend schools, and widows permitted to starve rather than earn a living, would be an improvement for the women of Afghanistan.Schools have been re-built and new ones have appeared as a result of foreign intervention and the determination of the new government. Medical clinics have been opened, women and children can now seek treatment hitherto denied them for illnesses. Women can appear in the public sphere unescorted and without wearing the stifling burka.
But the all-powerful and highly respected mullahs, those who interpret the Koran, and whom the populace infer know everything there is to know and observe about Islamic rule, are relentlessly anti-woman. Forced marriages, domestic abuse and restrictive dress codes remain the order of the day.
It is one thing for the government to assure its female population that things have changed. Instructions coming from the mosques say otherwise. Women have been elected to the legislature; young, forward-looking, intelligent and courageous women who understand full well that their lives are easily forfeit. But who, nonetheless, speak out and speak up.
Some have been assassinated, others expect that they too may become victims of assassination but their pride in their womanhood and hope for the future prevails and they continue with their mission to promote female rights. Since the ouster of the Taliban, girls have been attending schools and jobs have been available for women - in some areas.
There have been great advances in the emancipation of Afghanistan's women. Kandahar's largest hospital has a female surgeon as its director. That's the good news in urban Afghanistan. Somewhat different, and lagging dreadfully in rural parts of the country where parents remain to be convinced that their girl children can benefit from an education and where women continue to be considered second-class.
In the rural areas cultural practices which promote the marrying off of young women to old men continues. Women are kept isolated from their families, often refused medical treatment, and wife-beating is the norm, approved by Sharia law.
According to Runa Tareen, Kandahar province's director of women's affairs, the traditional culture of the country treats females like "a piece of meat". Her life may soon be forfeit.
Labels: Political Realities, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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