The Plight Of The Afghan Women Analysis

The laws made for Afghan women were much more brutal than those for men. Women could show very little to no skin if they were ever to go out in public. If they were to have a reason to go out in public, then they would need to have a mahram to escort them. If a woman was ever seen without a mahram, she could be punished in a number of ways.

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

Women in Afghanistan still have very little say and are still being mistreated. Women before the Taliban had rights and were able to work and go out like men. During the 1920’s and before the invasion in 1979 women had some rights. When the Soviets invaded in 1979 and the war started women’s rights started to go away. In 1996 when the Taliban took over women’s rights were completely pushed back.

Women are still being isolated today even though a new form of government is in use and has been fifteen years since the rule of the Taliban. “Life as an Afghan Woman” points out that “women are [still] often hidden and isolated. Islamic extremists insist that women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a male relative.” Most women wear a burqa that completely covers their entire body, showing male dominance outside of the home as well. Women must cover themselves to avoid the possibility of men looking at them in an inappropriate way. Women have to dress in a head to toe burqa for the benefit of men. Also, the fact that girls live with their husband’s extended family often results in them being

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

1. Abu Lughod argues that the “liberation” from burqas, wanted by American women for Afghan women, is an extension of colonialism and western domination because the western women fail to understand what liberation is for the Afghan women. Western women think that the Afghan women are unhappy with their religion because it physically restricts them. On the contrary, Afghan women like their burqas because they feel it brings them closer to Allah. They also culturally disagree with the openness of American fashion. The idea that western women do not take into account the Afghan woman’s perspective on life, and automatically assume that they are trapped by their way of life, can be compared to America’s way of “helping” nations that they believe

United States’ humanitarian relief efforts have recently focused much of their efforts on involving the livelihood of Afghanistan women. For decades, these women have been frequent victims of abuse, despite some success by authorities in prosecuting rape cases, forced marriages and domestic violence. Child marriage, selling and buying women to settle disputes, assault and more than a dozen other acts of violence and abuse against women are a common norm in Afghan society. About 87% of women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence. Incidents of violence against women remain largely under-reported because of cultural restraints, social norms and religious beliefs. Because of widespread discrimination, fears of social stigma

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

In most societies, men feel the need to reinforce the idea of their superiority upon women, so thus they use religion to prove their dominance. A Talib told Mariam of how ‘God made us differently’(Hosseini 324). These “differences” that the Talib speaks of is one of main ways patriarchy is defended, since God made man and woman differently, the Afghan community assumes that they must be treated differently as well. Also, there must be one sex that is superior to the other then, many communities along with the Afghan community chose to place men above women due to sexist beliefs of the

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

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.

During Hosseini time living in Afghanistan, women essentially had the same rights as men. They had the right to education, the right to seek a professional employment, and last but not least the ability to marry the man they chose themselves (Stuhr 2). For example, his mother was a high school teacher and his father a diplomat with the Afghanistan Foreign, meaning that they had equal rights (Biography 1). Then during the Taliban Era, women were protected under the law and banished from numerous human rights. They were stripped off form the work force and the women’s schools were closed down. The woman could not leave their homes without a man and they had to wear a burqa that covered their whole body. All these rights were implied in the novel

After the Taliban fled, the rights of Afghan Women began to improve. Females were allowed to go to school again, they could show their faces and the burka was optional, and women could even join in governmental meetings (Banting, Erinn). Women had an opportunity to help reconstruct the country itself (Drevitch, Gary). According to the author Cary Leider Vogrin, Soraiya Edressi Totakhail, a Muslim woman who fled Afghanistan before the Taliban took power, used the words “systematic destruction of culture” to describe the actions that took place (Cary Leider, Vogrin). Nevertheless, reassembling Afghanistan was not an easy task, but people were definitely sanguine (Drevitch, Gary).

Afghanistan, as well as much of the middle east, is ruled by men. Women are viewed as lesser, and in some places are viewed as nothing more than an object - a possession. Countries such as Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are notorious for their poor treatment of women (Selby). Afghanistan used to be much the same way - a terrible place for women to live. In the 80’s and 90’s, Afghanistan fell under the rule of the Mujahideen, and later the Taliban. During this time, women had very few rights and virtually no control over their lives. Women were not allowed to leave the house without a man, many were not allowed to work, and were required to be in burqa at all times outside of the home (Selby).

Before the rise of the Taliban in the early 1990s, women in Afghanistan were mostly treated as equals and with respect. Though women were still expected to be