Inequality between man and woman knows no limit and boundaries. In every nation, culture and even religion inequality is prevalent. The harsh reality is that children and women suffer the most. In this modern times of technology and worldwide awareness of human equality, perhaps the most significant and poignant example of inequality to women is of that experienced by Afghan women.To date, it is presumably that Afghanistan women experienced the worst kind of oppressionIn September 20, 2000, The State of World Population 2000 report was released which states that “millions of women are denied reproductive choices and access to health care, violence against women and girls is widespread, two thirds of the 300 million children without access to education are girls and two thirds of the 880 million illiterate are adult women” (United Nations Population Fund).These are basically on the top list of inequalities that women experienced all over the world.
Early on, they already experienced restrictions in so many ways that suppress their basic human rights to live a good life with equal opportunities compared to other women all over the world brought about with their culture and religion.Even before the Taliban-era, they were subjected to force marriages, rape and women’s abduction.Nonetheless, it wasn’t been worst until the Taliban emerged in 1994 issuing an edicts prohibiting women from working outside their homes, prohibiting women from leaving their homes unless in the company of a close male relative as chaperone, and denying education over the age of eight years and also promulgated detailed edicts requiring women to cover themselves from head-to-toe in a chadari, a body-length covering with only a mesh opening through which to see and breathe (Physicians by Human Rights). Not wearing a chadari / burqa in public will cause a woman to suffer severe beatings and punishment. It isn’t the wearing of the chadari that really in question but it is the issue of forcing one person to do something that against his will.During the rule of the Taliban, women were treated worse than in any other time or by any other society, there were even cases of doctors and teachers that were suddenly forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their families (Qazi).
Several other restrictions were imposed, like women are not permitted to wear white socks or shoes for white is the color of the Taliban flag or shoes that makes noise as they walk .Moreover, the Taliban severely limited women’s access to health care and closed public bath houses for women which served as female meeting places for social and celebratory purposes, in addition to essential hygiene facilities for households without water (Physicians by Human Rights).The long list of inequalities experienced by Afghan women never ends and that I believe it would take a lifetime for them to muster their courage to speak and be heard that enough is enough, violence against women be stopped and equality amongst human kind be respected. Let alone the restrictions but the humiliation and punishment is much even worst when one’s caught not abiding the edicts, it could even cause one’s death.This isn’t the kind of life every human being dreams to live. This is completely inhumane in every sense of the word.
Why such brutality has to happen to the weaker gender? Each one of us is entitled to our own happiness that comes with equal rights and opportunities. All of these inequalities experienced by women on this side of the globe should be stopped and therefore should be condemned.Yes, true enough the Taliban regime has been toppled down five years ago. The world celebrated and rejoices that at last Afghanistan was freed after a hard long won battle from the terrors of the Taliban though most of us were just mere observers of what has been happening. We as observers were glad and felt great relief for the success of crippling an abusive regime, how much more the Afghan people especially the women.It would seem that their wildest dreams coming to reality.
Freedom is such a sacred word for them I bet, which sometimes was just taken for granted by many. It could be equated to a new life, a new beginning in the absence of terror.However, is freedom really a grasp of hands away from them? Are they really free from the bondage of inequalities among their countrymen? Would they be able to sustain the newly acquired freedom and most of all enjoy it?UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was quoted in his statement to the Afghan Women’s Summit for Democracy in Brussels, “Afghanistan is now embarking on a process to create credible and accountable institutions in which all Afghans are represented and emphasizes that there couldn’t be true peace and recovery in Afghanistan without restoration the rights of women”(United Nations).Can the rights of women in Afghanistan be restored in due time? I guess this has to take a lot of time, the healing and recovering process, much more the restoration of the broken spirits of women. So much has been said and reported about the famous fall of Taliban, Afghans in 2001.
They were very much optimistic despite the deep challenges they have to face economically, security wise and as well as the basic right.Five years had past; do they feel the same way? Since the end of the Taliban ruling in November 2001, women and girls have had growing access to education, health care and employment (Human Rights Watch). Yet, there are continued reports of violence against women in Afghanistan up to the present time.Many women continue to limit their movements and to wear a burqa even though the Taliban-era of edicts requiring women to wear the burqa is no longer in force (Human Rights Watch). Zama Coursen-Neff, the co-author of the report and counsel to the Children Rights Division of Human Rights Watch had said that “many people outside the country believe that Afghan women and girls have had their rights restored but it’s not just true.Women and girls are still being abused, harassed, and threatened all over Afghanistan often by government troops and officials” (Human Rights Watch).
Where is the so called freedom, equalities among men and women alike? So after all, there weren’t much changes with the status of Afghan women in the cruel society they’re in.It is a sad truth that despite the success story told of the fall of Taliban there seems to be no hope of restoring women’s rights of equality on that side of the world. Several years after the fall of Taliban, I sadly believed that although Taliban is not anymore in control of Afghanistan the rights of the Afghan women couldn’t be restored for in all actuality they weren’t been liberated and treated equally since the beginning of time. The fall of Taliban was just an exercise of showing an option that terrors of human brutality can be stopped but it actually doesn’t serve its purpose in its entirety.Works CitedHuman Rights Watch.
“Afghanistan: Women Still not “Liberated”. HRW. 17 Dec 2002. HRW.
org. 5 May 2006. <http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/12/herat1217.
htm>.Physicians for Human Rights. “Women’s Health and Human Rights in Afghanistan”. Phrusa.
2001. Phrusa.org. 5 May 2006.<http://www.
phrusa.org/campaigns/afghanistan/Afghan_report_toc.html>United Nations. “The Situation Of Women in Afghanistan”. UN.
2002. UN.org. 6 May 2006. <http://www.
un.org/events/women/2002/>.United Nations Population Fund. “UN Population Fund Launches The State of World Population 2000.
”UNFPA. 20 Sept 2000. UNFPA.org. 6 May 2006< http://www.
unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=254&Language=1>.Qazi, Abdullah. “The Plight of the Afghan Woman”.
Afghanistan Online. 30 May 2005. afghan- web.com.
6 May 2006. <http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/>.
