Human rights squabbles: women in Afghanistan

Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2009 in Issues & Ideas | 0 comments

In 2001, the U.S. military launched Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The objective is not only to secure military control of the country, but also to establish a democratic government that would uphold basic human rights for all of its citizens.

The hindrance to human rights is the Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic group that had control of Afghanistan and instituted control of the populace based on its own religious beliefs. Operation Enduring Freedom engaged the American-led coalition army to wage a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, in order to procure freedom for the Afghans.

Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, there have been unsuccessful attempts to reverse the discriminatory traditions towards women in the country. Recently, many international organizations have abandoned their posts due to increasing hostility in the war-torn country, and life has become steadily worse for women.

Specifically, in the conservative Pashtun area of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan, many women are not allowed to enjoy basic, inalienable human rights. The majority of Afghan women throughout the country are abused, confined and denied education. The assassination of female politician Sitara Achakzai in April of 2009 has only led to increased fear amongst females. One Afghan woman shared, “If I have to live every second of my life living in fear that I could be killed next, how can I possibly think of my rights… my right to live is not even in safety here.”

Despite the fact that the Afghan constitution now contains an equal rights clause, gender equality is not practiced in everyday living. In Kandahar, women have limited rights, due in large part to the unwritten code of honour called Pashtunwali. This code operates on the basis that men must protect and control the behaviour of women: a man’s honour is reflective of the woman’s honour.

In order to keep themselves from losing honour, many men prohibit their wives from leaving home and demand that their faces are covered in public. One Afghan woman said, “the husband can do anything, he can abuse you, as if you are his own being, like humans are God’s beings.”

The UN Gender Index ranks Afghanistan as second-to-last in the world in terms of equality between the sexes. After the fall of the Taliban, women’s rights began to increase, but now it is even worse than before.

The international community is failing in their attempt to establish a democratic regime in Afghanistan or even to uphold basic human rights. The prospects for, and timing of gender equality in Afghanistan are difficult to assess. Until the day when both sexes are treated equally, many Afghan women will continue to suffer at the hands of oppressive men, without the basic freedoms of speech, education and employment. Afghan women are not being given the right to live fully.