The Emancipation of Women in Afghanistan imminent

Journal of Social Science Studies, 2017

Women face tough challenges in developing countries which usually enforce strong traditional stereotypes. Afghanistan is a good example where women have experienced both radical and moderate changes. Some of the changes have ameliorated their position in society whereas for the most part the changes endured have kept them from fulfilling their potential roles in a traditional patriarchal structure. This article attempts to highlight the various fluctuations that have occurred in the 19 th and 20 th centuries, paying special attention to the period during and after the Soviet invasion of 1978. Afghan women possess legal rights which are on a par with other developed states but it is the implementation of these rights which leaves much to be desired. The impact of culture and history cannot be minimised when trying to explain the obstacles faced in improving Afghan women's rights.

2003

In this paper, through the history of women in Afghanistan, I want to locate the position of women in the future by lessons learnt from the past. Given Afghanistan's current situation of poverty, political disenfranchisement and social disarray, I argue that these very deficiencies could be maneuvered to favor the empowerment of women by redefining her role in the family and the community. Afghanistan's social development can only be ensured through democracy and the reduction of poverty, the success of both being assured through full participation of women, especially in rural Afghanistan. In this paper I would like to trace the history of women in Afghanistan for three main reasons. One, to show that women in Afghanistan were not always oppressed by fundamentalism as occurred under the Mujahideen and the Taliban. Second, to go back into history and reflect on regimes and politicians to show that women's issues were an integral part of national construction agendas even...

2006

A holistic assessment of status of women in Afghanistan in 2006 reveals that the status of women continues to remain depressed and discriminated in crucial areas like healthcare and education (literacy 34 percent). However, in terms of political participation and rights guaranteed by afghan constitution there have been positive gains. The survey findings shows that around 50 percent of afghan women are not in favour of wearing burkha and are ready to shed their conservativeness associated with it use. Similarly, more afghan women are enjoying the rights to equity guaranteed by the constitution as only 25 percent of respondents said that gender equity exists only on paper. Though women’s movement is currently sporadic and yet to take firm roots, but their fight to restore and strengthen womenfolk in different regions of the country indicates a positive step in the long march towards improving the status of women in Afghanistan. The key areas that needs immediate addressable for improving the gender empowerment are healthcare, education and discrimination. The government of Afghanistan should make a concerted effort in partnership with civil society for their overall upliftment and advancement as guaranteed by the constitution.

Women form 50 percent of the Afghan population and the stability of this nation will be best reflected only by an improvement in their condition since they have always been subjected to any change, turmoil and cultural and religious norms prevailing in the country. Gender equality refers to a concept that all men and women, are free to develop according to their personal capabilities and can also make their choices irrespective of the hindrances posed by traditional gender rules, prejudices etc. Therefore, gender equality deciphers an equal level of consideration for all human needs and aspiration. However, in the case of Afghanistan, achieving gender equality is a target that needs tons of effort to realize.

UNESCO, 2006

In order to conceptualise what human rights can signify for women in the dominantly rural society that is Afghanistan, it is necessary to understand the models and stereotypes available to them in recent history and how these have been reworked in every day life. Theirs is not an isolated situation occurring in a vacuum; it has to be understood in relation to the developments in the Indian sub-continent from the British Raj onwards as well as the spread of present-day Islamism. In the context of what may well be Asia's most tribal and patriarchal society, the resistance to Western modernization is unique in a country which could have been, alongside Turkey, at the avantgarde of progressive Muslim nations as early as in the 1920s. All efforts by reformist kings from the early 20th century onwards were doomed and when the communist government attempted to introduce an egalitarian society and implement women's rights after the April revolution of 1978, acute civil strife ensued. This generated full-scale war when their Soviet allies came to the rescue and the US, through their assistance to fundamentalist groups, turned this into the last conflagration of the Cold War.

Afghanistan is a landlocked country with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, Iran and Pakistan as its neighbours. It is a small country in the benign protection of the Hindu Kush and the great Himalayas with its rugged hills and sturdy people who, till yesterday appeared to be leading a sleepy and indifferent existence under the tyrannical feudal dynasties. Afghanistan has remained geographically, religio-culturally and commercially intimately connected with the neighboring countries. The issue of gender has been utilized as an instrument to serve the centralized state‘s larger political agendas, rather than to meet the basic needs of the majority women. It is true that in both the 1964 and 1977 Afghan constitutions ,women and men were recognized as equal before the law and women were given equal rights and privileges, but in practice ,patriarchy and tribal social conduct continued to dominate gender related relationships.

2014

The recent presidential election in Afghanistan saw larger numbers of women defying the Taliban by questioning candidates and turning out to vote. This paper argues that Afghan women now need to further revolutionize skewed gender relations within the private sphere of the family. Already a growing number of men are lobbying on behalf of female relatives who have experienced sexual abuse; the result is that notions of women’s rights are being inserted into public consciousness. A genuine women’s movement could extend well beyond the past decade’s cosmetic ‘modernization’ that has benefited only a few elite women. To gain independent bargaining power for such a groundswell, different female constituencies should unite, rallying behind a vision that appropriates and deploys liberating and peaceadvocating versions of Islam. At home – where they customarily have been bartered into marriages – girls should be expected to gain skills in literacy and numeracy that can lead to a salary and professional status. Then, instead of adhering to traditional gender roles and identities based on the number of sons they have borne, women could start to be recognized for their formal labor. As one symbolic step to reverse women’s precarious status in the decade ahead, the government and international donors should set the example of employing members of both sexes to work on projects of economic development. Introduction Over a decade since the momentous year when the Taliban were ousted and women once again saw opportunities for change, we are poised at the beginning of a new decade of transition as Afghanistan leaves centre stage for the international community. A situation of stark contrasts has emerged, not only in the creation of new elites who play by their own rules, but also in terms of the ‘progress’ achieved by women

Afghans lived in Afghanistan for thousands of years. Of all of the ethnic groups, the Pashtuns are the largest followed by Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and others. Throughout the 20th century, Afghanistan continued to be a country dominated by tribes and men continued to have ultimate control over women. But it is true that from the 19th century and through the twentieth century many rulers of Afghanistan attempted to lessen women's restrictions in the country. Until the 1970s, the 20th Century had seen relatively steady progression for women's rights in the country. Afghan women were first eligible to vote in 1919 -only a year after women in the UK were given voting rights, and a year before the women in the United States were allowed to vote. In the 1950s purdah (gendered separation) was abolished; in the 1960s a new constitution brought equality to many areas of life, including political participation.