Hope for Change

Abstract

Global gender equality is suffering, especially in Afghanistan.  The women of this war-torn country are in desperate need of basic human rights and the world must answer their cries.  Included in this essay is a glimpse into the lives of the women in Afghanistan and the abuse and issues that they face.  I not only hope to shed some much needed light upon these women, but to also make case for why they need our help.  Gender equality in Afghanistan cannot happen without the world putting pressure on the deep-seated values of its country.  The time for change is now so the women of Afghanistan can stand a chance for not only freedom, but survival.    

            For most women in Afghanistan, life is full of fear, pain and dread.  For decades, the war-torn country of Afghanistan has seen more than its fair share of civil war, poverty and drought, making it a prime place for crime and terror to run free with no consequence.  Home to over 23 million people, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the highest illiteracy and maternal and child mortality rates on the planet.  (Annan par. 2) 

Women have borne the brunt of the country’s turmoil for years and have seen violence, mutilation and rape to themselves and their children.  They have been given little respect or dignity and continue to struggle with basic civil and human rights.  As Belquis Ahmadi so eloquently said, “Afghan women have lost lives, family members, basic human rights, human dignity and the right to be respected.  Soon they might lose something that destroys humanity.  They might lose hope.” (as qtd. in TIME Magazine par. 1)  While women in America are struggling to attain an equal standing in the workplace and balance their personal and professional lives, the women of Afghanistan are silently fighting an entirely different battle; the basic right of freedom.  For gender equality to ever exist in Afghanistan, the world must stand up to fight terror so the women of its country are protected and empowered to pursue the education, health care and political voice they so desperately deserve.        

Life for the Afghan woman changed dramatically with the emergence of the Taliban.  From 1996 to 2001, this political group greatly worsened the treatment of women, making it a strict law that women could no longer work, find medical care or receive education.  The Taliban enacted laws that took away all women’s rights and personal power.  They were no longer able to leave their house without being completely covered with a traditional burqa, and could only leave if they were supervised by a family male escort.  Abdullah Qazi, in The Plight of the Afghan Woman, explains further that “women who were doctors and teachers before, suddenly were forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their families.”  (par. 1)  The Taliban took away every freedom, making the women of Afghanistan powerless and degraded.

There are many women who suffered a worse fate, being tortured and brutally disfigured by their husbands and fathers.  Atia Abawi explained that “the United Nations estimates that nearly 90 percent of Afghanistan's women face some sort of domestic abuse.” (par. 14)  It is not uncommon for husbands to cut off a woman’s ears and nose as punishment for what they saw as a crime or wrong doing.  Bibi Aisha, a 19-year-old married Afghan woman, suffered that fate from her husband after she tried to run away from the abuse.  She was returned to her husband by her father-in-law after fleeing her home, only to be mutilated and left for dead in the mountains.  Without any power left, the only way Afghan women felt they could make their voices heard was to do the only thing they could to take control and that was how they treat their own bodies.  As a way to break away from their abusers, many women began burning themselves with simple cooking oil.  Lee Marzel reports that women “deliberately set fire to themselves in order to escape a life of domestic torture and abuse.”  (par. 2)  It is devastating that many women do not suffer death after setting themselves on fire, but endure many months of painful treatment and surgeries to survive.  

Even though the short reign of the Taliban has ended, the superior attitude of the male population lingers and women are still afraid.  Only recently, women are starting to venture out and regain their place in society.  Women are slowly returning back to work and are helping with the little economic growth that Afghanistan is seeing today.  Without women working and contributing to society, the country is bound to stay in a depressed state with excessive poverty.  If all members of a society can contribute their talents and strengths, the world will see a better community with everyone pulling together.  If half the population is weighting down the society and is not allowed to support progress, there will be little hope for change.  

There are many women’s groups and organizations trying to institute change and support the women in Afghanistan, such as the Revolutionary of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and Afghans for Civil Society.   The Asia Foundation is one of those groups that continually maintain a presence in Afghanistan.  The organization conducted a survey in 2010 where they interviewed 6,467 Afghan citizens “on security, development, economy, government, corruption, and women's issues to assess the mood and direction of the country.” (Afghanistan in 2010, par. 1)  As seen in the graph below, many Afghans view education and illiteracy as the number one problem facing Afghan women, along with lack of job opportunities and rights coming in second and third.

  The Asia Foundation 2010

However hopeful the citizens of Afghanistan might be, Afghan women are continuing to see the backlash of the large part of society that is unwilling to change.  Taliban laws are continuing to be implemented in rural areas where the torture of women is outside of police legislation.  Even in areas where police are supposed to enforce the laws of the country, many of these men and their crimes are going unpunished because of corruption.  The United States military is also planning on leaving the country and will no longer have a presence in Afghanistan.  Life for the Afghan woman could potentially go back to being ruled by the Taliban.      

Right now the only thing that Afghanistan can offer its women and children is the hope for change and that this violence and terror will someday end.  The world community needs to put pressure on the societies that degrade their women and limit their futures.   No longer can we turn a blind eye to the women of Afghanistan and the torture that they face.  Countries must stand up and take a place to protect her, helping not only the women of Afghanistan, but also safety throughout the world.  The women of this country are the key to the reconstruction of Afghanistan and must be allowed to take a stand if peace is to ever be achieved in this violent nation.   Hillary Clinton commented that “A post-Taliban Afghanistan where women’s rights are respected is much less likely to harbor terrorists in the future…a society that values all its members, including women, is also likely to put a higher premium on life, opportunity and freedom.”  (par. 8) 

Hope has to remain in our hearts that the women of Afghanistan will someday be free and able to live their lives without fear.  Until that happens, the world must remain diligent and not tolerate terrorism or the horrible abuse that goes along with it.   Women especially who live in countries where freedom and equality are alive, must stand up and be the voice for the women of Afghanistan.  The time is now for the women of this war-torn country to have the freedom that all humans born in this world deserve.  It is their right and citizens of the world should not stop until they have that freedom.      

Works Cited

Abawi, Atia. “Afghan Woman whose Nose, Ears Cut Off Travels to U.S.” CNN (2010):1-2. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.

Annan, Kofi. “The Situation of Women in Afghanistan.” Women’s Summit for Democracy (2001) : 1-6. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Ayubi, Najla. “Women’s Biggest Problems in Afghanistan.” The Asia Foundation (2010): 1. Web. 1 Dec. 2010

Clinton, Hillary, Belquis, Ahmadi. “New Hope for Afghanistan’s Women.” TIME Magazine (2001): 1-3. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Marzel, Lee. “Afghan Women Burn Themselves to Flee Abuse.” RAWA.org (2009):1-4. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

Qazi, Abdullah. “The Plight of the Afghan Woman.” Afghanistan Online (2010):1-2. Web 27 Nov. 2010.

Rawa. “Rawa’s Standpoints.” Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (2010):1 Web 21 Nov. 2010.

Zulfacar, Maliha. "The pendulum of gender politics in Afghanistan." Central Asian Survey   25.1/2 (2006): 27-59. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Nov. 2010.