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Throughout history, women’s rights and suffrage has always been an important topic. This inequality can be seen all over the world in different countries, states, and even religions. Women have been oppressed and mistreated but despite it all has found ways to overcome these adversities.
Afghanistan has been in a state of disarray and turmoil for decades, especially for women.
Afghanistan is under the control of The Taliban. The Taliban is an Islamic extremist group which has been taking over Afghanistan since 1996. By 2001, they had taken over about 75% of Afghanistan, until the U.S raided the country following the events of 9/11. Because of this, the Taliban had less authority due to the U.S military that was until 2021 when the U.S and the Taliban reached a peace treaty and retreated from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to continue their control over Afghanistan, taking over the country’s capital, Kabul on August 15h, 2021. Ever since this day Afghanistan has become more restrictive and repressed, especially towards women.
But it wasn’t always like this. Back in 1970s Afghanistan, the country was going through a political change due to the new Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud, who gave women a multitude of freedom and rights under his reign. It was a common occurrence to see young women walking to class in only a headscarf or veil, others who were more daring even wore short skirts under their newly won independence. But now if a woman is seen without a burqa they risk extreme violence and the imprisonment of male family members, who are the breadwinners now that women are not allowed to work.. Videos and photos have spread of abused women who were assaulted by members of the Taliban, women who defy their rule are called offensive and derogatory names, they are threatened that if they make the same mistake again, the punishment will be severe, that is if they make out alive from the initial assault.
On top of that girls aren’t allowed to go to school past sixth grade, compared to just a few decades ago where women were going to colleges with men and had all girls schools. It wasn’t uncommon in the 70s for girls to be studying to become nurses, teachers, and even government officials, but now women aren’t allowed in government buildings/conferences and aren’t even allowed to attend nursing schools, which leads to the unemployment rate and childbirth deaths, which brings me to my next point. Afghanistan is documented to have an extremely high maternal mortality rate. In statistics about this issue, it’s been said that “A woman dies every two hours due to complications with childbirth and pregnancy.”
This is due to lack of doctors and nurses who are able to provide what they need for them and also lack of funds and transportation to even make it to a hospital. There’s also the issue that since women aren’t allowed to be trained it limits how much healthcare access female patients have.
Some women who fear the Taliban especially, try to just give birth at home but that makes the complications even worse, leading to infection and lasting issues for the mother and child.
All these drawbacks have made women less inclined to want to be pregnant and get married. The unsurety of their safety, wellbeing, and basic necessities make them reluctant. A lot of girls have said in anonymous interviews their dreams of going to university to follow their passions. Young girls talk about their jealousy and resentment towards their brothers and neighbors who get to go to school and play outside while they have to take care of the house with their mothers. These mothers have also anonymously shared their thoughts about their daughters not being able to attend school either due to the Taliban or due to lack of funds, which is another issue in Afghanistan that brings us to a big issue that continues to worsen by the day.
Due to lack of resources and money, families in Afghanistan have resorted to selling their daughters to men to marry. Girls are also being sold to avoid being married off to men of The Taliban military who have been known to violently assault their brides both physically and sexually. These girls can be as young as 6 months to 17 years old, parents will make deals with other families on when to sell their daughters so they can collect their dowry’s. These girls are sold to all kinds of men, to a next door neighbor to even a government official, this practice has actually been very common all over the world in a multitude of cultures. Children are sold off to men of higher power to be their bride, they are used as a bargaining chip to create good relationships between families. These child brides have created peace treaties for millennia, becoming the staple of entire nations, but yet they are still not treated as people, or equals. Nothing but a tool used to advance humanity, but humanity continues to leave them behind.
This is just the surface of the true situation of Afghanistan, there is still the violence against gay people, famine, lack of healthcare and more, the country is regressing and the only people who are paying for it are the citizens. Anyone who tries to escape or fight against the Taliban’s rule are arrested, and it’s been known for women to be raped and brutally beaten in those prisons to teach them a “lesson”.
Female journalists are also being grouped into this issue. Whenever they try to report the situation going on, they are turned into “examples” as a scare tactic. These journalists are thrown into jail and raped, then videos are taken of them to use as blackmail so they won’t want to reveal the truth.
It is never too late to offer support and to spread the word to try and get these women out of this situation. By donating to Gofundmes and organizations(Linked below) and reposting the stories and experiences of these women, you can make a difference with just a click of a button.
https://womenforafghanwomen.org/
https://womenforafghanwomen.org/
https://www.vitalvoices.org/take-action/donate/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgence-sauvez-leducation-de-82-etudiantes-afghanes
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-afghan-women-children-families-in-need
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