Afghanistan Women After 2001 Invasion

Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia. Afghanistan is an impoverished country, one of the world's poorest and least developed. Two-thirds of the population lives on fewer than 2 US dollars a day. This country also has very low literacy rate among its population. About 85% of Afghan women and girls are illiterate (compared to about 55% of Afghan men). Before Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul, the capital, women in Afghanistan were educated and employed: 50% of the students and 60% of the teachers at Kabul University were women, and 70% of school teachers, 50% of civilian government workers, and 40% of doctors in Kabul were women. But, since 1996 the Taliban initially imposed strict edicts that:

1. Banished women from the work force

2. Closed schools to girls in cities and expelled women from universities, restricted women's access to higher education and ability to work in health professions.

3. Prohibited women from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative

4. Forced women to wear the burqa (which completely shrouds the body, leaving only a small mesh-covered opening through which to see)

5. Hospitals had to be segregated based on gender. Women could only be examined by a female provider or a male provider if accompanied by an appropriate chaperone.

The Taliban has declared that this edicts based on Islamic law. As we know, the focus for women in Islam is the family and home. In Islamic law combined with the wahhabi branch of Islam, women also live in abject misery with almost no freedom or career prospects, and where they are ruled by men and treated as a commodity. Generally, sharia restricts women's social mobility and rights.

The collapse of the Taliban in 2001 was a significant victory for women's rights. Since 2001, Afghani women are coming together to improve conditions for mothers and children. Local women are reaching out as skilled attendants at home births and as health educators. Students receive extensive clinical training at facilities in Kabul, and the curriculum emphasizes evidence-based practice. Many support services are in place to help women complete the curriculum successfully and return to practice in their home communities. Women have gone back to work. Schools have reopened for girls and women.

Although the central government named several women to cabinet positions and other areas of responsibility, but in fact the new Afghan government does not take seriously its promise to guarantee women equal rights and equal opportunity. Women continue to face systematic and widespread violence and public and private discrimination. In areas outside Kabul, local authorities reportedly continued to exert strong pressure on women to conduct and dress themselves in accordance with a conservative interpretation of Islam and local customs.