Hope for Women in Afghanistan

Hardly any other topic has captured the world’s attention as much as the fate of oppressed women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The Taliban forbade women from working, barred access to education for girls, forced women to appear in public only with the all-enveloping burqa and in the company of a male escort. It’s been a disenfranchised life within the four walls of their home for Afghanistan’s women.

Crippling poverty

Gul Anar is an ordinary woman from rural Afghanistan. Her fate has nothing to do with the inhuman bans of the Taliban regime, but rather with tradition and belief.

Gul Anar lives in a small village of mud huts in the craggy mountains of northern Afghanistan. She’s in her late 20s and her husband is over 50 years old. They’ve been married as long as Gul Anar can think. She was ten when her older brother sold her. "I was very sad when I had to get married. I’m not happy with my life," she said. "What kind of a life is it? Nobody asked what I thought. My brother sold me because the family was poor," she said. "I’m also poor. My husband is old and weak. We don’t have enough to eat. We don’t have warm things for the winter."

Gul Anar’s face reflects blank fear. She’s scared of losing her next child. Out of the seven she’s given birth to, only three are still alive. "I wanted to take my children to the doctor. But my husband didn’t give me any money," she said.

Gul Anar has never gone to school. Like almost 90 percent of all women in rural Afghanistan, she can’t read or write. She doesn’t know what a constitution is, but she’s clear about what she wants. "I want to go to school. And then I want to work. In a factory, in the fields, wherever," she said. "I want to have the right to earn my own money."

Implementing the law is a problem

The draft drawn up by Afghanistan’s Constitutional Commission has taken her wish into account. According to the basic rights catalogue, every Afghan should have the right to education and the right to work. All citizens of the country are meant to have equal rights.

Afghan minister for Womens’ Affairs, Habiba Sorabi said that if the Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly agrees to their vision, it would mark an important step towards the future.

But it will be difficult to implement a working paper and translate it into a new reality for the whole country. The villages in the provinces are still controlled by warlords, religious Mullahs and tribe chieftains, who have the last say on all matters. "The implementation of the constitution is my biggest worry. We have to educate and train our judges and police. They have to ensure that the laws are upheld," Sorabi stressed. "And of course we have to educate the women. The women have to learn about their rights and duties so that they can defend themselves in everyday life without crossing the borders of Holy Islam."

Afghan women’s rights activist Homa Sabri said she wished the constitution had set a precedent in referring clearly to men and women rather than speaking generally about Afghan citizens, a move that the United Nations worker believes would protect women even further.

Improving the lives of Afghan women is a task of several decades, she said and can only be achieved when women and men are exposed to other lifestyle patterns through education. A quarter of a century of war has worn them down and tired them, she said.

Essentials for Afghanistan’s future

Whether and how quickly Afghanistan’s women get to feel the tangible effects of the new constitution in their daily lives finally depends on three things: How far the interim government of Hamid Karzai will be able to wield their influence in the future, how firmly all non-elected power-holders will be disarmed and how strongly the West will continue to stay involved in Afghanistan in the long run.