Afghanistan: The Future of Women's Rights
Tenuous Future for Women’s Rights in Afghanistan
Nathan Sukhdeo & Ethan Gordon – Team Members for the Afghanistan-Pakistan Region
Despite initial progress made in Afghanistan for Women’s rights since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, conditions for women in Afghanistan are still problematic. Under Hamid Karzai, the Afghan government passed the Shia Family Law in 2009, which required women to ask their husbands permission to leave the home, and have allow the husband to have sexual relations with their wife even if she objects. Later that year, a debate on the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women law was struck down by legislators against legal protections for women. According to OxFam, only 38% of all girls’ country attends any school at all, which is lower than the total percentage of school-aged children, which is around 50%.
Despite these disheartening numbers, there are trends that show that more of a emphasis is being put on young women’s education in the country. NGOs like UNICEF have helped build education infrastructure for girls in Afghanistan with schools like the Zhargona School for Girls in Kabul, that enrolls 8,000 female students in grades 1-12, with international organizations helping this cause, there needs to be a stronger push from the government in this regard.
Regulations and law have avidly changed in Afghanistan since 2008, in support of protecting women and recognizing them as equal citizens by providing them with equal rights to that of men. A key example of such is the Elimination of Violence Against Women Act, established in 2009 by former President Karzai. This law is the first time in Afghan history in which rape is recognized as a crime. Consequentially, the state is legally obligated to protect women from violence, which includes underage marriage and domestic abuse in all forms.
Foreign interests have erupted out of this new stance in Afghanistan towards a progressive, democratic, free society. The main foreign organization that has demonstrated substantial interest is the Afghan Women’s Task Force in the United States Congress. Representative Donna Edwards, who co-chairs the Task Force, states that she “believe[s] that it is possible for us to construct a strategy where we make those kinds of civilian investments that will enable investments where it is possible to support women entrepreneurs, to support women in education, to support women as parliamentarians”.
As long as there’s still a democratic government, women’s rights should still be on the radar with NGOS, but if the Taliban comes back with a staunch presence, it may push for a regressive motion moving forward when it comes to equality. Even with a democratic government in place, we have seen that women rights can be compromised. As such, regardless of if a democratic government is in place, there needs to be a push for equal rights amongst women from multiple government and non-governmental organizations on the global stage.
