Educating Women in Kabul Essay

The Taliban had a large number of restrictions placed on the rights of Afghan women. They were not allowed to work anywhere outside of their home. This meant that a woman could not be a professional in any type of job. Women also could not deal with any male shopkeeper or doctors.

Education is one of the most important contributors to having a successful future. In developed countries such as North America boys and girls are fortunate enough to have access to an unbiased education system. Therefore, allowing children to have countless opportunities. However, in countries like Afghanistan girls are marginalized and neglected the right to learn. Afghanistan is a country of war, where women and girls are often the worst victims. In 2011, Afghanistan was known as the most dangerous place in the world for a girl to be born (Kissane). Malala Yousufzai, a female education activist was also a victim of war. Yousufazi was shot in the head and neck for advocating for girls and their rights to have access to education. Similarly, to Yousufzai many women in Afghanistan stand up for their entitlement to having equality. Those courageous women often become victims of abuse and are often killed. Investing in girls’ education is critical, not only is it life-altering for a girl’s future, but it’s also poses benefits to society. By allowing Afghan girls access to educating we are also promoting better socioeconomic s, a reduction in child marriages, and an improvement in mortality rates.

Today in the post –Taliban era, women still struggle with their rights. Resolutions were produced and rights for women have advanced since September 11th but in order to move forward, much work needs to be done. Hundreds of years of repression for Afghan women will take a lot longer than a few years to actually revolutionize. There is violence towards women that are not practicing traditions customs and fear retaliations from the Taliban. Customs are difficult to change as well as government policies. (Bora Laskin Law). In Afghanistan, religious and cultural values, politics, and an uncertain acting government have played a major part in the struggle for women’s rights.

The Constitution that was created in Afghanistan during the 1920’s, stated equal rights for women and men. In fact, during the year of 1959, new policies created educational and career opportunities and voluntary removal of having to wear the burka. Women’s roles become similarly equivalent to male roles; they had the opportunity to acquire knowledge from universities, and were provided jobs in industrial, business, and entertainment settings. The atrocities that came about during the Mujaheddin and Taliban control were unheard of years prior, when women lived in peace and prosperity

The beginning of an Islāmic group started to take over Afghanistan in 1996, after the Soviet Union left Afghanistan. This group is known as the Taliban. The Taliban’s mission is to make an Islāmic government in Afghanistan. The Taliban started with Islāmic students from Pakistan. Then in “September 1996 the Taliban seized control of Kabul (Afghanistan’s capital) and carried out a strict interpretation or explanation of Islāmic Law”(Hayes NP). The Taliban killed the Afghan president, Mohammed Najibullah in Kabul. That is when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. The Taliban controlled 95% of Afghanistan. Then once the Taliban had taken over Afghanistan, they started announcing their restrictions, that were harsh against women.

Education is what provides us the opportunity to learn new things and it helps to build our knowledge by expanding horizon. After Dawood Khan, the president of Afghanistan was assassinated by PDPA during 1970s and Afghanistan had become democratic and republic, education for girls was required. There were certain social reforms such as banning burqas and raising the minimum age for marriage. However, the invasions of Soviet, Mujahideen and Taliban forces revoked several women’s rights. Under the Taliban rule, women were imprisoned in their homes. Girls were forbidden from attending a school and were beaten if found alone in the street. Punishments were hard if their discriminatory laws were violated. (“Women in Afghanistan: The Back Story”). Even though women have gained some political rights now after the Taliban rule in 2001, but there are still many afghan

Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance” (Hosseini 114). This demonstrates just how pro women’s rights Babi was, as he not only believed in education for females and the idea that arranged marriages at young ages are wrong, but also that women could be the ones to make the country strong again, not men. Because of his beliefs, you can assume Babi represented the Soviet government that administered over Afghanistan at the time. Later into the book though, Babi ends up passing away in a terribly violent way, which to me represents the collapse of the soviet union (which happens around the same time as his death) by the violent hands of the Mujahideen. After his death, Laila then ends up living under the authority of a dangerous and brutal male, Rasheed, who represents the new Mujahideen government that took control. Rasheed had very conservative views, as seen when he warned the girls to obey his every word, not leave the house without him, and always wear a Burqa. All the things he asked them to do were the policies the new Mujahideen government set into place, restricting women 's rights.

Many families only allow their daughters to attend all-girls schools close to their home and not many of these schools exist. Other families believe it is unnecessary for girls to be educated because the woman’s place is at home, not in the economy. “Life as an Afghan Woman” explains, “Schools for girls have been burned down, hundreds of teachers educating girls have been threatened or killed,...[and] physically harmed…. Only forty percent of Afghan girls attend elementary school, and only one out of twenty girls attend school beyond sixth grade.” Education has been presented to girls, but because of the lack of girls attending, this advancement of women’s education has not made as large of an impact as anticipated. Central Statistical Organization states “Based on the data of Statistical Yearbook 2014, the total numbers of civil servants of the government are 398,195 persons of which, 77.8 percent male and 22.2 percent are females.” Women have much less involvement in government and it is rooted from the lack of education received by the women as a young girl. A 2014 data analysis from the Central Statistical Organization shows in the “Zabul province in terms of girls’ enrolment in school is at the lowest level as girlboy ratio is 22/78.” Education equality has long suffered throughout Afghanistan due to the results of a patriarchal society, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t looking up in the

The Taliban started to control the country and their leadership directly impacted the women. Women who once had jobs outside of their home, using their skills to provide for their family were no longer allowed to work from anywhere outside of their home. Instead, they were forced to stay inside their house. The restriction that was put on the women made it harder on them to provide for their families and find ways to work. The restriction not only affected women who wanted to work but also women who wanted to further their education. It would be very difficult for a women to be educated just within the home, so not only were women limited in their work but also education. Whenever a woman wanted to leave the home, the rule was that a male

Today in the United States, freedom is taken for granted by almost all citizens. People think that because of the way our government is structured, not having freedom will never be an issue. This thought of peace and safety was similar to that of the women in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban reign, and before the government in Afghanistan was overthrown. Their fortunes would change in 1996 when the Taliban ended up controlling Afghanistan, and denying women of all their rights such as work, education, health care, and many more. The lifestyle women were accustomed to be forced to be drastically changed, and the country they once felt love for, they felt fear. Even though their regime only lasted for about 5 years, the Taliban took a

In a male dominated society, the women of Afghanistan face many pressures and limits that are taught and ingrained in them at a very young age. Women and girls are seen as less than men and boys. They are viewed as being weak and unimportant. They are often pulled out of school and shunned to the house during their middle school years. Society sees no reason to educate girls when the whole point of girls is to serve as wives to their husbands and mothers to sons. They are taught that their entire worth depends on how happy they make their husband. As depicted by Jenny Norberg in The Underground Girls of Kabul, Afghanistan is a horrible place to be a woman. The pressure to birth sons, uphold a perfect reputation, and the economic disadvantages women face often force them to become men to have basic human respect and survival.

Being a woman in Afghanistan is hard for so many reasons but some of the reasons are that over half the Afghan girls are married or at least engaged by the age of 12. 60% of the Afghan girls are married actually married by the age of 16 and up to 80% of the marriages in the poor/rural areas are arranged or forced marriages. The men these young girls marry are usually a lot older, some of the men even in their 60’s or older and the girls might not meet the man they were arranged or forced to marry till the actual day of the wedding. With the widespread of poverty parents arrange marriages for their young daughters for many reasons like to repay debt, solve a dispute, to get rid of them so they don’t have to support them, they even do it to reduce

Khaled Hosseini presents the struggle Afghan women go through every day by discussing honour, marriage and the place of women in society in Afghanistan.

Since the beginning of time, women have had to fight rigorously for basic human rights. In the western stratosphere, those human rights were achieved in the early 20th century, but in a lot of eastern countries the battle for the women is just beginning, or worse hasn't even started. Women in Afghanistan have been subject to heinous circumstances, even though their religion, Islam "demanded that men and women be equal before God,"(Qazi). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner offers a very insightful view of the governing politics of Afghanistan pre-Taliban regime and during the Taliban regime, and the differing situation of women in both those eras. Based on the book and outside research, it is evident that the situation of women in

The Taliban became responsible for punishing those who committed crimes by killing the criminals. These acts started a small fear in the Afghanistan people. Soon, the Taliban group became a well armed and well funded militia with the support of a province in Pakistan. As soon as fear stirred among the Afghani people, the president of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, tried to create an alliance against the Taliban in Kabul, the capitol. This alliance fell through, and the president eventually fled Afghanistan. In December of 1995, the Taliban took hold of Afghanistan as a result.