The Post-Taliban time of Afghanistan has been a confusing time for women. Although, the Taliban was known for its terrible treatment of women, it is still not clear what the condition for women is today and what role the international community plays in demanding the equitable rights of women.
A study done by Amnesty International found that women are still at serious risk in situations of abuse, abduction, etc.
Afghan women are in constant risk of abduction, rape and forced marriage and the government is doing little to address their plight, human rights group Amnesty International said in a report released 3 1/2 years after the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime.
A spokeswoman for the Afghan Women's Affairs Ministry, Nooria Haqnagar, acknowledged that abuse was still rife and said, "In some remote areas, men deal with women like animals."
Amnesty called on the government and the international community to do more to improve the lives of women.
"Throughout the country, few women are exempt from violence or safe from the threat of it," the London-based organization said in the report titled "Afghanistan: Women under attack."
It said women are traded like commodities to settle debts and disputes and that some women commit suicide to escape being forced into marriages they don't want.
"Afghanistan is in the process of reconstruction after many years of conflict, but hundreds of women and girls continue to suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands, fathers, brothers, armed individuals," the report said.
The manipulation of religion by government officials is still the main justification for the denial of women's rights in Afghanistan. There have been incidents of women being beaten and killed when in violation of Islamic codes. Some women have even been reported setting themselves on fire to escape abuse.
I am not feeling very optimistic about this. Is this what democracy looks like?
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reminds me of Nawal el Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero, except the text was idealistic in the sense that the woman, despite her "doomed" ending, had the capacity to resist
"I am not feeling very optimistic about this. Is this what democracy looks like?"
No. This is what Islamic Fundementalism looks like when it can't hide it's backward, 16th century, uneducated followers behind an oppressive theocratic government controlled media.
Well, I guess we better invade them until they get it right, huh, TF? It didn't work the first half dozen times, why should it now?
We won't rest until every woman has the freedom to be cynical and bitter in the face of overwhelming evidence that things are getting better in the world. .