Oct 269 min read

The Future of Women's Rights in Afghanistan

Aurore Saccagi & Morane Verhoeven

DISCLAIMER

In February 2021, CYIS’s humanitarian research dimension had the opportunity to interview three Afghan activists and develop associated podcasts. Due to the recent events in Afghanistan, we wanted to illustrate what is at stake now before publishing our last podcast recorded before the crisis. We hope you find it inspirational and do not hesitate to reach out to the associations mentioned in our article. We will continue to amplify the voices of Afghan women in our mission to protect and promote fundamental rights. In this article, we decided to focus on analyzing women’s rights issues. However, you can find some links at the end regarding the LGBT+ community who are also at a greater risk due to their vulnerability.

What is the Future of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan?

At the end of August 2021, scenes of chaos such as the ones in Kabul airport were witnessed in Afghanistan (Washington Post). The withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country led to a situation of grave uncertainty as the Taliban group seized control from the Afghan government (The New York Times). The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 before the U.S.-led invasion, are now threatening the country’s stability by taking back political influence and power, creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty within the population. Women and minorities are amongst the groups most at risk and are likely to experience significant disruption in their lives through the neglect of their fundamental human rights.

This article will briefly highlight the history of women’s rights in Afghanistan and discuss the possibility of peace talks. Patriarchy has always played an important role in Afghan culture. However, the Taliban group has a poor consideration of women’s rights, and the resumption of their control over the Afghan population may undermine all the progress in women’s empowerment that has been made to date.

A Brief History of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

Overall, women’s rights in Afghanistan have been constrained by patriarchal understandings of gender and social relations that were deeply embedded in traditional communities (Huma Ahmed-Ghosh; 2003). However, the situation of women’s rights and empowerment has never been fixed in time and instead evolved through social and political changes. Certainly, women in Afghanistan have long been mobilizing with the objective of acquiring greater rights.

In the early 1920s, the Anglo-Russian agreement guaranteed Afghanistan’s independence and the ruler at that time, Emir Amanullah with his wife Soraya Tarzi, greatly contributed to women’s emancipation in the country. The reforms taken included, amongst others, a new dress code allowing women to go unveiled, freedom of choice in marriage and the opening of the first school for girls in 1921 (Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan). Those reforms, however, were perceived to be advancing too quickly and conflicted with the conservative social realities of the country, creating frustration within the population (Arab News; 2020). The following decades saw some improvements in fundamental rights’ and empowerment. To name a few, the first group of Afghan women left the country to attend school abroad in 1928, while in the 40s and 50s women could become nurses, doctors and teachers. From 1959-1965, women enrolled in university and entered the workforce and civil service in vast numbers, and by the 1960s women (unveiled or not) mixed freely in urban areas while continuing to advance into senior government positions. Since then, the number of women attending universities or studying abroad continued to increase, and women occupied important positions in politics and law. (Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan).

In the decades that followed, efforts to promote women’s rights persisted, but the situation in the country changed as fundamentalist extremists started to emerge and gain power. In 1992, the Afghan communist government fell, and women’s rights were not prioritised due to the country’s instability. As a consequence of the war, there was a rise of women refugees fleeing the country, a downfall of the education sector, growing poverty, and reports of sexual violence by armed forces. In 1994, the Taliban emerged and took power in Kabul in 1996 (Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan)

The downfall of women’s fundamental rights began when the Taliban claimed victory and sovereignty over Afghanistan in 1997. According to Human Rights Watch: “the Taliban’s radical fundamentalist form of sharia - Islamic rule of law - banned women’s education, activism, and even physical presence in Afghan society. Women have been beaten and put to death for violating these rules. Under a system of legalized hatred for women, women are subject to increasing, so-called “private” forms of violence, including rape and domestic violence, with little recourse” (Human Rights Watch, 2001) (Amy Caiazza; 2001).

After 2001 the situation changed again with the American involvement in Afghanistan, which purported to contribute to the construction of democratic institutions and establish civil society over the following decades (Cfr.org). Since then, women in Afghanistan witnessed political progress and stability, and peace talks with the Taliban were even on the agenda.

Overall, women in Afghanistan were able to empower themselves at different periods of history. However, under the Taliban, women’s fundamental rights continued to drastically deteriorate.

Afghan Women in the War and the Afghan peace talks: a possible Peace?

When the Afghan peace process kicked off, it was very clear what was at stake: a role for the Taliban in government meant the threat of women being forced back into the margins of society, thereby undermining gains made over the last two decades. Despite significant evidence regarding the positive correlation between meaningful participation of women in conflict mediation and sustainable peace, the U.S.-drafted peace plan even downgraded the role of women in post-war Afghanistan.

Since the downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001 where Afghan women were largely housebound, uneducated and lacked basic rights, women gradually regained their important status in society. Shaharzad Akbar, chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission underlined that “If you exclude women and you move to an Afghanistan where half the population is entrapped and regarded as half-human, you are signing up for an Afghanistan that is poor, less developed, and cannot compete with other countries. That is counterproductive for everyone.”

Since seizing Afghanistan in summer 2021, Taliban spokesmen and high officials have promised to respect women’s rights to work and education, albeit within an Islamic framework they refuse to define. However, according to an article in The Guardian, the new higher education minister has said women and men must be separated at universities, and the historical consequences of services promoted as “separate but equal” within a discriminatory system strongly suggest that women will be pushed out or receive a lower quality education. Women must be provided with transport in buses with covered windows and a curtain separating them from the presumably male driver. They must be confined to a “waiting room” before and between classes, and the decree even details a required clothing colour for female students and teachers.

“In Afghanistan, women are all heroes. They are dying every day, but they are never giving up.”

— Laila, who moved to the U.S. in 2016

“Despite the fear, violence, discrimination and the uncertainity, Afghan women do not give up. It is important for the world to know that these women are not just victims, they have a voice and are willing to use this in the demand of their deserved rights. A woman’s life in Afghanistan has never been easy, not even during the last 20 years. The difference now is that their lives will become more difficult. Everyone sympathizes with the women of Afghanistan, but it’s time now to change your perception. The women of Afghanistan don’t need your sympathy, they need the world to take responsibility for the mess it created”

— Farahnaz, an Afghan journalist who fled to the US in 2021.

If women and girls are not meaningfully included in the overall peace process, no sustainable peace is possible in Afghanistan. A country cannot fully recover from conflict and war if it keeps restricting the human rights of women and girls.

Empty promises were made in the Taliban’s speech saying they will guarantee women’s rights. Their subsequent actions have revealed that their old approach to the rights of women and girls is largely unchanged: they fired women journalists from state media, and initially warned women to stay home from work for their own safety because Taliban fighters who had “not yet been trained” might mistreat them. The group also fired women from most government jobs and issued tough new guidelines on how women could attend university, requiring strict gender segregation. Then, on September 18, boys were permitted to go back to secondary school, but not girls. The Taliban have also banned women’s sports, dismantled the system to protect women from violence, abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and replaced it with a revived, and draconian, Ministry of Vice and Virtue, and made it harder for women to access health care (Human Rights Watch, 2021).

What can we do?

According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Taliban have made promises to permit girls to go to school and women to continue to work. It is important to keep a close eye on such promises to ensure a minimum of fundamental rights for women and girls. (4)

We had the opportunity to record three podcasts with three inspirational women that you can listen to here.

They were recorded before the withdrawal of troops but will give you an insight on what were the achievements and challenges faced by women in Afghanistan.

In August 2021, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) launched an urgent effort to support the immediate needs of high-risk women from Afghanistan whose lives are in imminent danger. They set up a website called Protect Afghan Women. There, you can donate to help the evacuation of at-risk women activists, journalists, politicians, peacebuilders, and their families, and provide support so they can be resettled with dignity or you can sign the petition to urge the US Government to evacuate at-risk women and their families.

You can also donate to other organisations working on the ground to support and protect Afghan women. Please find a list below:

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) is a grassroots civil society organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan and New York. You can answer their urgent appeal by donating here .
Madre is a global women’s rights organisation providing long-term support to women -led groups that are impacted by war and disaster in inaccessible areas. They are calling for funds to facilitate an urgent underground escape and support network in Afghanistan. Donate here .
International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives have been upended by war, conflict and natural disasters around the world. They have been responding in Afghanistan since 1988. IRC are appealing for funding to help them continue to deliver aid to support children and families in Afghanistan. You can help them continue their work by donating here.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works to promote and protect the rights of children and women in Afghanistan and have a presence in every region. So far, the Taliban have allowed UNICEF to remain and there is hope that they will be allowed to set up schools which girls can also attend. Donate here .
The Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is an innovative partnership empowering local women to be a force for crisis response and lasting peace. They galvanise support from across the globe to support the efforts of women working on the frontlines of the world’s most intractable conflicts. WPHF are supporting local women’s organisations in Afghanistan to sustain their work on the front lines of conflict and crisis. Donate here .
Afghanaid is a humanitarian and development organisation, working with millions of deprived and excluded families in some of the poorest and most remote communities in Afghanistan. They build basic services, improve livelihoods, strengthen the rights of women and children, help communities protect against natural disasters and respond to humanitarian emergencies. Donate here .
Global Fund for Women are a leading funder of gender justice organisations and movements worldwide. They are funding gender justice groups in Afghanistan and are working to protect and relocate women human rights defenders who are in danger. Donate here .

Besides donating, you can raise your voice in the defence for human rights for all!

Be an advocate for refugees in your community. Challenge friends, family and colleagues who have anti-refugee points of view. Thousands across the country are at serious risk of reprisals from the Taliban for speaking and acting freely as citizens over the past 20 years. This includes women human rights defenders, academics, journalists and those who have aided the US and allies in peace-building efforts. There are very few opportunities to escape Afghanistan or seek asylum. Help others to understand this and why emergency measures must be taken.
Write to your local government representative about your concerns for the rights of Afghan girls and women. Ask your government to be inclusive and welcoming to those fleeing the country. This may include expanding the list of refugees eligible for resettlement in your country. It could also involve removing the barriers that refugees face in securing visas, flights, and financial support. You can ask your government to stop any forced returns of Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan during this dangerous and uncertain time.

Raise YOUR voice online. No matter how small or big your network is, share content and correct information about the situation in Afghanistan (Always check if the information comes from a reliable source, do not spread fake news!!). Follow relevant accounts from NGOs, local activists, journalists, etc., and raise awareness around the situation of Afghan women amongst your network.

Conclusion

The aim of this article was to briefly describe the issues and circumstances in Afghanistan. Women’s rights in Afghanistan have been throughout the last decades, constrained by patriarchal understandings of gender and social relations. However, Afghan women were able to empower themselves in different periods of history and were recently active in taking part in the peace talks with the Taliban before the retreat of U.S. troops. Since the Taliban seized the country, women’s rights are under threat and it is imperative that we mobilize to ensure their safety.

Afghan Peace Talks Series

You can listen to our podcast series below (recorded in February 2021)