This document provides a historical overview of Afghanistan and the status of women's rights. It discusses how women's rights and freedoms have fluctuated under different regimes over the past century. During the Soviet-backed government in the 1970s-1980s, women had increased rights to education and employment, though this progress was limited in rural areas. The rise of the Taliban in the 1990s severely restricted women's rights. While the post-2001 constitution established protections, enforcement remains a challenge and women still face widespread discrimination.

1. A Case Study

2. Located in Central Asia, bordered by six countries:
1. China
2. Iran
3. Pakistan
4. Tajikistan
5. Turkmenistan
6. Uzbekistan

3. Landlocked nation
(slightly smaller
than Texas)
Total Population:
30.5 million
Capital: Kabul

4. Most Afghans live in rural areas (77%)
 About ¾ of the population consists of farmers and nomads
• Only 12% of the land, however, is arable

5.  Many Afghans are bilingual
 The main languages spoken by Afghans are:
Dari (official language) 50%
Pashtu (official language) 35%
Turkic languages 11%

6.  Islam is the religion practiced by most Afghans; it
is central to Afghans' identity (99.7%)

8. King Amanullah Khan and
his wife Queen Soraya
 1919 – 1929

9.  1940s – 1950s
• Increase in women’s employment rate
• Some women began attending schools and universities

10. In 1959 the burqa became optional

11.  1960s-1970s
• New constitution was drafted recognizing the right of
women to vote (1964)
• Women began participating in politics
• Increase in women attending universities

12. 1978
• President Mohammad
Daud Khan overthrown
• Peoples Democratic
Party of Afghanistan
(PDPA) takes control
• Communist Ideology

13. The new government, which had little
popular support, forged close ties with
the Soviet Union, launched ruthless
purges of all domestic opposition, and
began extensive land and social
reforms that were bitterly resented by
the devoutly Muslim and largely
anticommunist population.
Many Afghans did not like communism
so insurgencies arose against the
government among both tribal and urban
groups, and all of these—known
collectively as the Mujahideen
(Arabic mujāhidūn, “those who engage
in jihad”)—were Islamic in orientation.

14. 1979-1992
• Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
with hope of spreading communism
(1979)
 Upon taking power, the Soviet Communist
government introduced a program of
reforms designed to:
• Abolish feudal power in the
countryside,
• Guarantee freedom of religion
• Guarantee equal rights for women and
ethnic minorities
• Improve literacy rate of men and
women of Afghanistan
• Improve healthcare in rural areas

15.  Under the Soviet Union's
Communist regime,
Afghan women enjoyed
equal rights and social,
economic, and political
freedom.
 By the late 1980s
women made up:
• 50% of all university
students in
Afghanistan
• 40% of the country’s
doctors
• 30% of civil servants

16.  However, much of the progress was
limited to women in urban areas
 Mujahideen forces were strong in
rural areas and many Afghan men
did not support such liberal reforms
• Consequently, they were able to
control women (limit access to
education, employment,
healthcare)
• Burned and killed women who
stood in support of Soviet
Government

17. 1989-1992
• Mujahideen forces received funds from USA,
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to overthrow Soviet
Union. As a result, forces grew even stronger.
• In 1989 Soviet Union withdrew, but civil war
erupted among factions of guerilla fighters
known as ‘Mujahideen’
• In 1992 the Communist regime fell and
Mujahideen Government took control.

18.  During the 23 years of conflict
(1979-1992) roughly 850,000 – 1.5
million Afghan civilians were killed.
 In addition, roughly 4 million
Afghans became refugees
Most refugees fled to two main
countries:
➢ Iran
➢ Pakistan
 There are an estimated 300,000
Afghans living in the U.S. today.

19. 1992-1996
 When the Mujahideen took power in 1992, they forced all
women to follow the Islamic dress code, including wearing
veils.
 Women’s movement was restricted; consequently
employment and education for women declined; access to
medical care was limited.
 During the bloody four-year civil war, women often were
kidnapped, raped and killed by men from other ethnicities.

20.  1996 -2001
• Civil war continued until 1996,
when hard-line group known
as the Taliban seized power
 Taliban imposed a strict
interpretation of Islam

21.  The lives of women became even worse during the Taliban regime
when they were forbidden to go to work, school or even go out of
their houses without a male chaperone.
 Burqas became compulsory and women were beaten on the streets
if they did not wear it properly.

22. View through a veil, or burka, which all Afghan
women were required to wear outside the home.
• Restricted vision has reportedly caused
numerous accidents involving vehicles and
women pedestrians.

23.  If the women and girls violated these rules they received
punishments, including beatings, amputations of the
limbs, and public execution.
 Faced with no way to earn a living, the majority of Afghan
women silently sat inside their homes depressed and
suicidal.

24. In 2001, following the
terrorist attacks on
the World Trade
Center and the
Pentagon, the United
States invaded
Afghanistan and the
Taliban regime
collapsed.
This development
gave women hope
their freedom would
be restored.

25. Bonn Agreement
• Mandated a new constitution must
be established in Afghanistan with
the consultation of the public
• Similar to previous decades, the
laws were reformed to make
significant progress for women.
2004
 New Constitution is implemented
 President Hamid Karzai is elected

26.  Article 22 states, “The citizens of Afghanistan
– whether man or woman—have equal rights
and duties before the law.”
 Article 44 states, “The state shall devise and
implement effective programs for balancing
and promoting of education for women,
improving of education of nomads and
elimination of illiteracy in the country.”

27. The Constitution also mandates that
women are guaranteed seats in
Afghanistan’s bicameral National
Assembly.
In 2004 the law stood that
approximately 25% of the seats in
the Wolesi Jirga (House of the
People) were reserved for women
and the President must appoint
additional women to the Meshrano
Jirga (House of the Elders.)
However in 2009, this law was
revised, dropping the number to
20%.

28. International Law
 The Constitution obliges the government "to create a
prosperous and progressive society based on social
justice," and to "protect human rights," expressly
requiring the state to "abide by the U.N. charter,
international treaties, international conventions that
Afghanistan has signed, and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights."

29. Afghanistan is a party to the following
human rights treaties and covenants:
• ICCPR –1983
• ICESCR – 1983
• Convention Against Torture-1987
• Convention of the Rights of the Child- 2003
• CEDAW- 2003
• International Convention of the Elimination of all
Forms of Racial Discrimination Against Women-
2003

30.  Yet despite these provisions, women are still
discriminated against, tormented, and faced with violence
in many parts of the country.
 Critics point to Article 3 of the Constitution which states:
“No law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the
holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan.”

32.  http://vimeo.com/60319802 (2013)

33.  For most women, little has changed since the days of the
Taliban, as the effects of fundamentalist rule remain
 It remains taboo for an Afghan woman to be seen in public
without a burqa, although it is not required by law.

34. Violence
• The U.N. estimates that 70
to 80% of marriages in
Afghanistan are forced -
resulting in alarming
suicide rates.
• In 2007 alone, 500 women
set fire to themselves to
escape forced marriages.
• In 2008, a Human Rights
Watch survey found 87% of
women had experienced at
least one form of sexual,
physical, or psychological
abuse.

35. The Afghan government recently changed the legal age for
marriage for girls from 16 to 17.
• Men who want to marry girls under 17 are not entitled to
obtain a marriage certificate, although many men simply
do not bother with officially registering their marriages.
• However, it seems that fewer girls are getting married.
Self-immolation (setting oneself on fire) has decreased from
350 cases per year in Herat province to 70 cases per year after
a government education campaign.

36. Education
 The literacy rate for females
over the age of 15 is 12.6%
compared to 43.1% for males
 Only 40% of females attend
primary school and only 6%
attend secondary school.
 Currently, there are 70 private
universities in Afghanistan;
over 200,000 students attend
college — but only 18% are
women, and 82% men.

37. Healthcare
 Afghanistan is the
second worst country in
the world to be a mother.
 1 out of every 11 women
dies in pregnancy or
childbirth in Afghanistan.
 1 out of every 10 children
die before their 5th
birthday.
 The average Afghan
woman won’t live to see
her 50th birthday.

38. Employment
• Women can be employed, but only if their male
relatives permit it.

39. Politics
According to local reports,
from mid 2012 to early
2013, 30 female political
and civil society leaders
were killed.
Female political candidates
are the target of 90% of all
threats against candidates
in Afghanistan.

40. Prisoners of Tradition (2013)
• http://youtu.be/W0Q9n4gmJrY?t=50s

41.  According to Sharia law, a
female’s testimony is worth
½ that of a man. In custody
cases, children will usually
be awarded to the father or
grandfather.
 So divorce—even in
extreme abuse cases—is
less likely to be sought,
because a woman must be
prepared to lose her
children.

42. Problems
Mistrust of judicial system
• Corrupt, disconnected
Judges are not educated in Afghan law
• Base decisions on personal interpretation of Islam
(Sharia law)
Afghans are unaware of the correct law
• Misinformed
• Do not know about laws due to the lack of
education/numerous regime changes

43. Afghan Law or Islamic Law?
• http://youtu.be/W0Q9n4gmJrY?t=3m30s
• Background: Sohelia is in prison for refusing to
marry an older man that her father had chosen for
her. She ran away and married her lover and was
sentenced to prison for 6 years.

44. Citizens outside urban areas are typically
never engaged with the central government.
• Located in rural areas, where there is little government
presence, the local people rely on tribal dispute
resolution for 90% of all civil and criminal complaints.
 These tribal courts have grounding in neither
constitutional nor Islamic law, and instead
base decisions off local tradition.

45.  BA’AD
 In the tribal courts, the first sacrifice is
women. If there is a fight for land, for
water, if there is violence, a girl can be
given in ba’ad to settle these things.
 While ba'ad is a criminal offense under
Article 517 of the 1976 Afghan Penal
Code, the Article applies only if a
widow and woman above age 18 is
given under ba'ad.
 According to Afghan law, the sentence
for perpetrators of ba'ad (example-forcing
a woman into marriage and
slavery through Ba'ad) cannot exceed
two years of prison. 35 year old man receives 7
year old girl in a trade for
1.5 acres of land.

46. 1. Emirate of Afghanistan (1826–1919)
2. Kingdom of Afghanistan (1919–1973)
3. Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)
4. Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992)
5. Islamic State of Afghanistan (Mujahideen) (1992–2001)
6. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) (1996–2001)
7. Interim/Transitional Administration (2001–2004)
8. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (since 2004)

47.  Some cases of injustice never reach
a tribunal due to fear
 Night Letters from the Taliban
 Women are afraid to work/send
children to school.

48.  Reality – death is a possibility every day.
 Say good-bye to children every time I
leave the house.
 “In recent years, extremists have
assassinated Malalai Kakar, the country's
most prominent policewoman; Safia Ama
Jan, director of the Ministry of Women's
Affairs in Kandahar; and journalist Zakia
Zaki. I cannot imagine the reserves of
courage that Pakzad, 38, taps into every
morning when she steps out the door,
knowing it may be for the last time” -
Khaled Hosseini

49.  The Afghan war has cost 2,314
Americans their lives and
wounded 19,701 as of April 21,
2014.
 Upwards of 20,000 Afghan
civilians have been killed since
2001.
 Without tens of thousands of
U.S. combat troops on the
ground, will Afghanistan
witness a Taliban resurgence?
 Should some U.S. forces be
kept in Afghanistan?

50.  Obama in May of 2014- ““We have to recognize
Afghanistan will not be a perfect place, and it is not
America’s responsibility to make it one,” he said. “The
future of Afghanistan must be decided by Afghans.”

51. Suggestions for future success
• Education Reform
• Access to Legal Recourse
• Political Participation

52. Education Reform
New models of understanding gender
• Broadening education to be sure that curricula in
state and madrassa schools include awareness
about rights and civic roles from a very young age.

53.  In their lifetimes, 87% of Afghan women will experience some form of
gender-based violence. Meanwhile, women comprise less than 1% of the
national police force and only 10% of the judicial corps.
 To protect women’s rights - women need to be able to defend their rights.
This means ensuring women are in positions of political power and judicial
authority.
 When you have female police officers in place at a local level, crimes of
sexual- and gender-based violence are more likely to be reported,
investigated, and prosecuted.

54.  Engaging women at the local level in public debates and
dialogues
 The more women demonstrate active citizenship, the
more public representatives will have to respond to their
demands as members of a voting constituency.

56.  Crucial that we take a step
back from what many consider
“main stream western reform”
and realize we are asking a
country to change its entire
culture.
 Where to start?
• What do Afghan men value?
• What/who do Afghan men
find credible?

57.  Those who use ‘culture’ or ‘religion’ to justify acts of violence
against women usually do so on the grounds that their
interpretation represents the one ‘true’ or ‘authentic’ vision,
while simultaneously marginalizing alternatives.
 Discrimination and violence against women is thus rooted in
the domineering, and patriarchal interpretation and not the
inherent nature of that religion or culture itself.
 Accordingly, it is crucial to demystify the concepts of ‘culture’
and ‘religion’, exposing the vested interests of those who
claim to represent ‘authenticity’, and bring to light alternative
visions in order to protect women’s human rights.

58.  Islamic law is viewed as more credible at the
community level and as more progressive
with regards to women’s rights than most
customary norms and practices.
 Greater assessment of how Islamic legal
literacy, scholarship, and dialogue might help
protect women’s rights in the coming difficult
period is crucial to increasing the acceptance
of these rights and therefore their
sustainability.

59.  “The majority of Afghan men I have spoken to
about this do not oppose the idea of their
wife, sister, or daughter working outside the
home or pursuing further education; rather,
their opposition to it in practice comes from a
fear of how others in their community or
extended family may judge them. Breaking a
cultural taboo sparks a plague of gossip that
has the potential to destroy a family's
reputation, particularly when it concerns the
integrity of women, who represent a family's
honor.” – Reporter in Afghanistan

60. When women are isolated from society,
they are not the only ones who suffer.
With lack of income, the entire family
suffers.

61.  If a woman can contribute to her family
or community in culturally acceptable
ways, men may start to recognize
women not just as a housekeeper and
caretaker, but also as an individual who
can generate some income for the
household or make needed
contributions to the community, placing
women on a more level playing field
with men.
 Furthermore, such activities give
women a sense of achievement and
boost self-esteem, attitudes that are
invariably passed down to future
generations.

62.  We have heard of women having
greater freedom in the larger
cities but this is often not heard of
in the rural areas.
 Generating public dialogue and
story telling of exemplary women
in the community, religion, or
country through radio programs
that seed messages of women's
empowerment in communities far
outside of Kabul is one way to
accomplish this.

63.  http://vimeo.com/90779690