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Women's Rights In Afghanistan

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“Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength” (G.D. Anderson).
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan for a short period of time and their rules neglected women and treated them as second-class citizens. The strongly enforced laws imposed, shifted the beliefs of how Afghan men treat and regard women in their society. An eighteen-year-old woman was interviewed for this essay with the purpose of showing any significant cultural shifts that have occurred in Afghanistan during the last thirty years. My interviewee migrated from Afghanistan with her family after the civil war because her parents feared for the families’ safety. Extensive research and the interview suggested interesting trends regarding women’s rights, before during and after the rule of the Taliban. …show more content…

Women’s right is one issue that is constantly evolving in Afghanistan, however after the third Anglo-Afghan war, their rights were on par with many Western countries (10). This war ended in 1919 and resulted in another change of leadership, this was the beginning of a promising time for Afghanistan women (12). Certain women were able to vote in 1919, only a year after England who many believe are a pioneer of equality for both genders (3). During the 1950’s, Afghanistan introduced Purdah, abolishing gender separation and during the 1960’s the constitution was officially changed for equality between both genders in Afghanistan (3). These changes to the legal system showed that Afghanistan was a relatively equal place for men and women to live and was contrary to how most of the global population view the treatment of women in Afghanistan. The 1979 invasion by Soviet forces greatly changed the scope of the country, leaving women to be classified as second-hand citizens

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