INFORMATION ABOUT CURRENT STATUS OF AFGHANISTAN

On August 15, 2021, the Afghan governance was captured by the Taliban through capture of Kabul, the capital city, and removal of Afghan governman officials. Their takeover reflects the effectiveness and growth of the Taliban since their previous rule in Afghanistan from 1996-2001. Additionally, the United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan provided motives for the Taliban to act. Since the recent takeover, the international community has expressed concerns over women’s rights, including girls’ access to education. 

On March 23, 2022, students across Afghanistan went to in-person school since, for many, the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A few hours into their first school day, the Afghanistan Ministry of Education announced a closure of girls secondary and high schools until “a plan in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture” is drafted (“The Taliban Closes…” 2022). Girls above grade six are not legally able to attend school (Abeles 2022).

CONTEXT FOR CURRENT STATUS OF WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan is populated by nearly 100 percent Muslims. Islam, as a religion and a lifestyle, is traditionally associated with conservative views on gender roles. For centuries, on the land that is now considered Afghanistan, women and men have occupied differing societal roles that correlate with modest, conservative standards and understandings of Islam. It is, however, exclusionary to assume that Afghanistan is a traditional society. As Barnett Rubin explains in Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know, calling Afghanistan traditional is “based on a fallacy of what modernity is…Afghans are living fully in modern society, but it is not the idealized modern society of the Western imagination” (Rubin 2020, 26). Thus, understandings of Afghanistan and Afghan people must be shaped around the notion that “traditionalism is a political position, not an empirical description of a society” (Rubin 2020, 27). 

The debate around women’s rights in Afghanistan, including womens’ and girls’ access to education, must be examined in correlation to debates on Islamic traditionalism, the differing interpretations of Islam, and the extent that religion and politics are interwined in Afghanistan (Abeles 2022).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• In the early 1900s, Amir Hibibullah established the first modern schools for Afghan boys 

• In the early-, mid-1960s, King Zahir Shah expanded women’s rights in freedom of dress, participation in government and politics, and ability to attend school, including Kabul University

• The 1964 constitution granted women equal rights

• The Soviet invasion in 1979 led to the destruction of the Afghan education system

• The late 1990s Taliban regime exacerbated the system of excluding women and girls from the public realm

• In 2001, after the collapse of the first Taliban regime, women and girls reestablished their role in public life 

• Protections for women incorporated in the 2004 Afghanistan constitution 

• August 15, 2021, marked the official takeover date of the new Taliban regime

• August 17, 2021: Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed that  

The issue of women is very important. The Islamic Emirate is committed to the rights of women within the framework of Sharia. Our sisters, our men have the same rights; they will be able to benefit from their rights. They can have activities in different sectors and different areas on the basis of our rules and regulations: educational, health and other areas. They are going to be working with us, shoulder to shoulder with us. The international community, if they have concerns, we would like to assure them that there’s not going to be any discrimination against women, but of course within the frameworks that we have. Our women are Muslim. They will also be happy to be living within our frameworks of Sharia. (“Transcript of Taliban’s…” 2021)

• March 23, 2022: Taliban closes schools for girls hours into reopening (Abeles 2022)

ARTICLES FOR FURTHER CONTEXT

Afghan Women and Girls: Status and Congressional Action 

Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy: In Brief 

The Taliban closes Afghan girls’ schools hours after reopening 

Transcript of Taliban’s first news conference in Kabul 

Who Gets to Go to School? (1): What people told us about education since the Taleban took over 

WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Beyond becoming more educated on issues of the world, participating in this critical learning, and passing that knowledge to students, is a aspect of being a global citizen. Global citizenship is the idea that individuals have the civic responsibility to promote and fight for an equitable, safe, and poverty-free world. As educators, we have the power to spread this crucial responsiblity to our students. We also have the power to incorporate action-based activities into our classrooms that enable students to learn more about global citizenship and its importance. 

When I was a teacher's assistant in high school (for a TCNJ alum!), she incorporated global citizenship into her curriculum and it allowed students to feel more proactive than their traditional curriculum. 

Global Citizen is both a concept and a organization that aims to defeat poverty, demand equity, and defend the planet. You may have heard of them because they hold the Global Citizen Festival every year which raises money for their causes. 

Further resources:

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/

https://www.globalcitizenyear.org/content/global-citizenship/

https://www.usf.edu/gcp/being-a-global-citizen/index.aspx

REFERENCES

Rubin, Barnett R. 2020. Afghanistan : What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated.

“The Taliban Closes Afghan Girls’ Schools Hours After Reopening.” 2022. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/23/taliban-orders-girls-schools-shut-hours-after-reopening. Accessed March 23, 2022.

“Transcript of Taliban’s First News Conference in Kabul.” 2021. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/17/transcript-of-talibans-first-press-conference-in-kabul. Accessed March 23, 2022.