How safe are women in Afghanistan?

The war on terror was undertaken with a view to improve the total security scenario in the then-Taliban-occupied Afghanistan. Questions have been raised as to the degree of success achieved by this war, and it is evident that it has been a total failure in improving the condition of women’s safety. 

The Womankind Worldwide organisation in February 2008 reports that attacks against the females are at maniac figures with 87 per cent, with most of them complaining about such abuses – 50 per cent of it being sexual. More than sixty per cent of the marriages are forced. Despite being a banned practice, more than half of the brides are below the legal age of sixteen. Many years of attacks and conflict have given rise to a million widows, all left alone in poverty. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security expresses concerns that generally the women and children are the majority of the most affected by the armed conflicts. They are included as internally displaced persons and refugees, and are mostly targeted by armed combatants. This has created a huge and negative impact on all endeavours on peace and reconciliation.   

There are harsh domestic and cultural rules imposed upon women, barring them from being equally socially relevant to male counterparts. Their role in the decision-making process of the country remains at a minimal level, and there are restrictions imposed upon their free expression of views. 

Very little has been done to identify the perpetrators of such gender apartheids. The key factor in preventing such discrimination – the government, has, according to a most critics, taken the passive role of an onlooker. The influence of foreign power in the governing system has made the elimination of rebel forces the centre of attention of the government. But the government must play an important role if this bias is to be subdued. It must concern about the general welfare of the country, not just by preventing anti-state forces, but by stopping such criminal acts of discrimination. 

Women’s Rights Advocates from all over the world have now joined the cause of gender security, and have made appeals on international basis to bodies like the United Nations Organisation and NATO. There has been consensus of intelligentsia deciding that this burning issue of women’s security in Afghanistan be resolved. With this, there is hope for a better world for women in Afghanistan, of course, through the able intervention of the governing system.