As a woman born and raised in Canada, I understand my privilege to what seems ordinary.
For instance, walking around my neighbourhood alone or attending social gatherings with friends. These are common activities in Canada, yet it’s a privilege that has been taken away from women and girls in Afghanistan.
Along with this, women and girls have been prohibited from attending school, working, and exercising their fundamental human rights.
This is an injustice that deserves more awareness to educate the population about the ongoings in a nation that has annulled the freedoms of the oppressed.
BEFORE THE TALIBAN OCCUPATION
The current state of Afghanistan doesn’t reflect the prosperous and just nation it once was from 2001 to 2021. Then, Afghanistan was a liberal, thriving country where women had full control over their rights and freedoms, void of a severely totalitarian government.
“A lot of people didn’t realize that there was a period between the last Taliban rule and now. People have this overarching image of the Middle East as a bad place for women, as a place of regression for human rights,” said Victoria Seta Cosby, a PhD candidate at Queen’s University for history, with interests in women and gender history, and a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
Before the Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan, women and girls accomplished countless achievements towards the rights and liberties of women.
Here is a brief timeline representing their achievements as documented by the Feminist Majority Foundation:
2001: The establishment of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan
2004: Activists for women’s rights won the terms to institute equal rights for women
2005: The World Bank confirmed that women in Afghanistan had made significant advancements regarding women’s rights
2009: The decree permitting violence, including rape, forced marriage, attending school or work, unlawful physical acts, and the banning of women owning property, was criminalized
2020: Over three million girls in Afghanistan enrolled in school
The immense progress Afghan women and girls accomplished over 20 years is presently a mournful and unjust past broken apart by the Taliban.
Women and girls in a position of privilege must understand that Afghanistan is, presently, a nation that is tyrannizing women and girls who were stripped of the chances many of us currently possess. Those in power truly hold many lives in the palm of their hand.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AFTER THE TALIBAN TAKEOVER
Following the Taliban’s reclamation of Afghanistan, the position of women and girls has returned to the pre-2002 period when the Taliban had last governed the nation, destroying all the progress in the preceding 20 years.
Now, under the rule of the Taliban, Afghan citizens are facing life-altering implications, including high famine rates, high unemployment rates, and a repressive environment for women and girls.
Unlike the inspiring achievements made from 2001 to 2021, women and girls are facing the brutality of the Taliban. A few events that occurred and regulations in place include the following, as documented by Medica Mondiale:
- Women who violate dress code guidelines risk the imprisonment of male relatives.
- Women are forbidden to be in public spaces without being accompanied by a Maharam (an individual who is not permitted to marry but is closely related by blood, marriage, or breastfeeding).
- The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was destroyed, and the Taliban liberated many prisoners who committed acts of violence against women.
- Women and girls do not have any sources of support for sexual violence.
- There is a surplus of forced marriage under the age of 18.
- For many families, the only way to beat starvation is to marry off their daughter in exchange for money.
These horrifying circumstances are a direct result of the totalitarian regime that caused an influx of issues to the general population and an immeasurable amount of trauma and setbacks for women and girls — obstacles that make it illegal for women and girls to exercise their basic human rights.
As Cosby explains, “It’s an act of defiance under this regime to teach your daughter to read. It’s an act of defiance under this regime to make sure that your daughter has a basic understanding of her body.”
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
With the current circumstance of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, many are left without hope for a fair future with civil freedoms. However, Afghans have proven before that with resilience and strength, there is a possibility of a liberated nation.
To guarantee change in Afghanistan, the international community must come together and support Afghan women and girls to ensure a righteous future where employment, healthcare, and sufficient living conditions are possible, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“It will take small acts of defiance,” said Cosby. “One of the ways we can do that is supporting charities that bring in materials for women’s health care. Supporting groups that are, in some cases, smuggling in education materials, health care items that are considered illegal now, especially things related to reproductive healthcare. I think part of that is going to involve continuously advocating not to forget those women here.”
The international community has the responsibility to understand that the rights of these women and girls require their support. Their lives must be prioritized in international relations regarding Afghanistan to ensure the reversal of laws that damage feminist rights.
As a community in the Western world, we are responsible for acknowledging the circumstances in Afghanistan and understanding the role we can play in the reversal of the country.
“We are a culture of the 24-hour news cycle, so we move on to the next disaster, and we forget. We forget and move onto a new disaster, but we can’t because those women are still living in that reality,” said Cosby.
CONCLUSION
Women’s rights in Afghanistan have extensively deteriorated. The progress these women and girls once made to ensure a safe future has been taken away; however, with the support from global organizations, there is hope that ethical reforms and interventions could establish an impartial nation once again.
With some final words of influence by Professor Cosby, “Part of our job is staying aware. Even if we can’t physically go there, we can use our dollars to support the people who are fighting. We can use our votes because the vote is the most powerful tool that we have here in Canada to elect officials who represent our values internationally.”
We must exercise the privilege we have to give women and girls in Afghanistan a life of opportunities and fair treatment. A life that every woman and girl deserves.