Endless misery for Afghan women
by Mustafa Kazemi and Subel Bhandari
KABUL: "The men started whipping me in public," says Nafisa, her voice trembling as she recalls the day in 1999 that she was stopped by the vice and virtue police in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
"My hands became weak. I dropped the milk I was carrying and it spilled all over the road. I thought I was going to die. The only thing I could think of was my child waiting for that milk."
The now 38-year-old nurse passed out from the lashes and awoke hours later in her neighbour's house in southern Nimroz province.
Her crime was that she had ventured out to buy milk for her daughter, without a male relative as an escort.
Life for women under the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001 was particularly brutal: They were not allowed to attend school, were forced to wear the burqa and banned from working or going out in
public unless accompanied by a father, husband or brother.
Tens years on, things have changed: 3.2 million girls are enrolled in school and women hold public office, with representation at 28 percent in the lower house of parliament, or nine percent higher than the world average.
Nafisa's daughter Nayeela, 12, plays Xbox and watches MTV in a country where television was once banned.
"Afghan women have experienced significant changes in their day-to-day lives" since the US-led invasion that rid their country of the Taliban government in 2001, says Shakila Nazari, adviser to the Women's Affairs Ministry.
"We started from absolutely nothing and now we have almost, almost everything for women," she told the German Press Agency dpa.
Misogynist laws
But hardship remains despite 10 years of change, and in the run-up to the withdrawal of foreign combat troops, anxiety over the future of women persists, activists say.
"There is a dark side to almost all good news about Afghan women," says Noor Jahan Akbar, who organised a march in Kabul last month to protest domestic violence.
The government, she says, "has not done nearly enough for women".
"It has passed many misogynist laws and forgiven rapists and violators of women's rights instead."
Only 12 percent of the country's women are literate compared to 40 percent of men. Traditions such as the forced marriage of women and girls, and so-called honour killings are still rampant, according to a UN report released in December.
Another UN report said nearly one third of Afghan women were exposed to physical and psychological violence, while an estimated 25 percent were victims of sexual violence.
"Domestic violence is still a big problem for all women despite several government acts and resolutions," says Afifa Azim, founder of the Afghan Women's Network.
A bill authorising Shi'ite Muslim men to withhold money and food from wives who refuse to consent to their sexual desires caused an outcry a year ago.
Ignored in Parliament
Female lawmakers, who spoke to dpa on condition of anonymity, complain they are being ignored in the Parliament.
"'Shut up. You have half a brain,' one male parliamentarian said to a female colleague once," one of the legislators said.
"We certainly fear what is to happen after 2014 when the foreign forces leave Afghanistan," said Naheed Farid, a female parliamentarian from the western province of Herat.
Hamid Safwat, a women's rights activist and a professor of journalism at Balkh University, says Afghan society is experiencing a clash of modern ideas and traditional values.
"Culture and tradition prevails in Afghan society."
"Modern ideas are being promoted in Afghan society, but there are influential men who believe women are not equal," Safwat says.
Many Afghan women are nervously watching the Western allies' attempt to broker a peace deal which could see the Taliban regain some power.
"Female teachers, lawyers, doctors, actors, musicians, artists, students, they are all worried because they know that what happened in 1996 can happen again if the Taliban return."
dpa
Milis Pers Indonesia
Powered by : http://www.GagasMedia.com
GagasMedia.Com Komunitas Penulis Indonesia
Publish Tulisan Anda Disini !
Khusus Iklan Jual-Beli HP/PDA
Ratusan Game/Software HP Gratis
http://www.mallponsel.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
assalamualaikum wr,wb KI saya ingin mengucapkan banyak2 terima kasih kepada KI WARSO atas nomor togelnya yang kemarin KI berikan yaitu “2578? alhamdulillah ternyata itu benar2 tembus KI dan berkat bantuan KI WARSO saya bisa melunasi semua hutan2 orang tua saya yang ada di BANK BRI dan bukan hanya itu KI alhamdulillah sekarang saya sudah bisa bermodal sedikit untuk mencukupi kebutuhan keluarga saya sehari2. itu semua berkat bantuan KI WARSO sekali lagi makasih banyak yah KI… yang ingin merubah nasib seperti saya hubungi KI WARSO Di.NmoR 0852~1838~1275.ATAU KLIK TOGEL JITU DISINI
BalasHapus