Afghanistan: Women Still Subject to Widespread Oppression, Discrimination

^{Category: International Human Rights}

Last month, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission released an alarming report showing that Afghan women, though no longer living under the yoke of the Taliban, are still treated horribly by their government:

Women rights are enshrined in most international human rights treaties to which Afghanistan has joined, such as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Thus Afghan government has an obligation, also mentioned in the constitution, to observe and respect women rights.

Article 7 of the Constitution reads, “The State must abide by the UN Charter, international treaties and international convention that Afghanistan has signed, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Article 22 of the Constitution says, “Any kind of discrimination and privilege between the citizens of Afghanistan are prohibited. The citizens of Afghanistan whether man or woman has equal rights and duties before the law.”

However, despite all these treaties and laws and relative development of women in recent years, a myriad of problems for women in political, social, cultural, etc spheres still persist.

Among the report's findings (comments in parentheses are mine):

• Over 50% of Afghan women are beaten by their husbands or by other male relatives. (The vast majority of these cases are never prosecuted.)
• Afghanistan suffers from a dearth of family courts, and the family courts that do exist frequently ignore any claims made by women.
• Nearly 40% of Afghan women have been married off against their will.
• Due to inadequate OB/G hospital care, an Afghan woman dies in childbirth every 30 minutes. In some regions, only 5 to 7% of women have access to any hospital care (due in part to regulations that sometimes mandate that only female doctors may see female patients).
• About 85% of Afghan women and girls are illiterate (compared to about 55% of Afghan men), but the Afghan government's per-capita literacy education funding is the lowest in the region. (If this trend continues, literacy disparities alone will relegate women to second-class status for decades to come.)
• More than twice as many boys attend school as girls. In many regions this is due to a simple lack of girls' schools. (Afghanistan still has a gender-segregated educational system.)

The collapse of the Taliban was a significant victory for women's rights, but there are already indications that the new Afghan government does not take seriously its promise to guarantee women equal rights and equal opportunity. There is more--much more--that still needs to be done.

(Hat tip: Feministing.)

See also:

• The Top 10 Blogs on Feminism and Women's Rights
• Afghanistan: Abdul Rahman Released
• Afghanistan: Geography, Maps, and Information