Should Women Be Allowed To Work In Afghanistan

Before reading The Underground Girls of Kabul I assumed women in Afghanistan had at least some semblance of a meaningful life. I assumed female children had the opportunity to go to school. I assumed they were treated on a human level, and I assumed there was hope for equality in the not too distant future. None of these things seem to be the case. For the majority of women in Afghanistan your life is pre-determined from the moment you are born. “The ownership of an Afghan girl is literally passed on from one male—her father—to the one who becomes her husband. He will take over the ruling of her life, down to the smallest details if he is so inclined.”(Page 44).

From the beginning of time, women all around the world have been fighting to escape oppression. Women everywhere are living under the control of men and are often looked over; it has been an ongoing issue for years. Much too often women are treated as lesser human beings just because of their gender. Women and men both have the same capability to do great things in the world; it is just a matter of making it known. Throughout the years, many women have found their voice, but many have not. More specifically, women in Middle Eastern countries have fought to have education, jobs, and even basic human rights. Today in the United States it is common for women to be as in control and educated as men, but women in the Middle East are still fighting for that right. The women from these countries fear for their lives every time they attend school. Oppressed women in the Middle East are denied access to education that they must seek due to the negative economic, political, and cultural expectations placed on them.

The role of gender in development does not play equally at all levels in Afghanistan. For example in household activities women have the most responsibilities but they hold very few limited positions out of home, like teaching at school. Most of positions are captured by men and the role of women in main positions not as remarkable as men. For example men have been the key players for peace building and development in Afghanistan during the 40 years war. They dominate formal and main positions as fighter, peace keepers, peace negotiators, politicians, directors and leaders. Women often are the worst affected by conflicts and wars, while they don’t play an important role as the central in the fight for peace (Peace building initiative, 2008).

Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished, war-torn nations of the world. More than two decades of foreign occupation and ensuing conflict resulted in pushing the country towards its state fragility. Law, democracy, and constitutionalism exist as mere constitutional pronouncements. Given the fragile situation in the country, I have always been interested to work in the spheres that cover democracy, rule of law, human rights and good governance.

Throughout his novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, Khaled Hosseini explores the stories of different young girls in Afghanistan, each with their own unique story. One of the main divisions between each was their level of education and their families view on the necessity of having kids in school. It seemed that there was a direct parallel between a child’s access to education and their goals and initiative for the rest of their life. There were also strong divisions between adults and their views in educating females in school. Some parents were very open and enthusiastic about their daughters receiving an education while others thought they belonged elsewhere and going to school was a waste of time. The Taliban was a strong opponent to young girls and their educations and did everything in their power to prevent girls from going to school or becoming at all independent. Examining the importance of education from the perspectives of the Taliban, adults, and young girls in Kabul at this time creates an image of suppression and brings into question the motives of the Taliban’s reform rules and whether or not they could have been meant to distinguish the threat of educated generations weakening their power.

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.

Females are discriminated against, mistreated, and are valued less since women and girls are not allowed to attend school and higher education. There are approximately 35 million girls not enrolled in elementary school. This explains why two-thirds of illiterate people over the age of 15 are females. Malala Yousefszai is an advocate for girls’ education all over the world. We learned that she was shot by the Taliban for standing up for education when we had to watch the video where she was on The Daily Show. Malala said that men don't want women to get an education, because then women would become more powerful. Having an education brings power. Her father was a great encouragement for her because he spoke out

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

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

"And in Afghanistan, 85% of women are illiterate and 50% of girls are married or engaged by the age of 12."("Life as an Afghan women”, n.d. para 1)

Women in third world countries are not given the same opportunities when it comes to education. The ratio of girls to boys who attend school in Afghanistan in today's society is 5:16. Despite how low this is compared to the Unites States, which is 43:56 male to female, Afghanistan has come a long way since in the past fifteen years. In

In 2010 a young Afghan women had her nose and ears cut off. Aesha Mohammadzai, first appeared on the cover of time magazine in 2010, shared her story on how her husband and in-laws cut off her nose and ears as punishment for trying to run away. Mohammadzai said: “Every day I was abused by my husband and his family. Mentally and physically; Then one day it became unbearable so I ran away." Three years later Mohammadzai began her reconstructive surgery. Aesha Mohammadzai now lives with a foster family, and is studying English in school. A true inspiration to Afghan women, Aesha Mohammadzai tells women who are being abused to stay strong and never lose hope (Phillip Caulfield.2013). This is just one of the many common punishments Afghan women receive. Mohammadzai is proof that still in today’s society women in Afghanistan are still suffering with extreme punishments. The life expectancy for a woman in Afghanistan is 44, one of the lowest in the world (Life as an Afghan Women.2013). Throughout the years, women have been forced to live in fear because of the way they have been treated. The consequences of punishments are not balanced with the actions that are performed, and women fight to hold their own. Afghan women have struggled with extreme, cruel and violent punishments. Women’s punishments are the result of the loss of their basic human rights.

– While the Afghan government and international community are working for women’s rights, since most women are illiterate, they are not engaged in the process. Thus the government has reduced women’s rights when it feels it is politically expedient: In February 2009 President Karzai signed a law which affects several key rights of Afghan Shi’a

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 reason I chose to study Islamic Feminism and Afghanistan, is that for many people, these words do not belong in the same sentence. Afghanistan has come to be recognized as a country that follows strict and fundamentalist Islam, hindering the lives of women and even damaging their lives. Since I entered high school, Afghanistan has been known to me and my generation as a country