AFGHANISTAN: Women: Symbol Of Past Oppression, Future Of Equal Rights

The state of women in Afghanistan: Moving in the right direction, but with a long way to go.

As news broke last week of the brutal treatment of 15 year old Sahar Gul, the young lady sold into an abusive marriage by her brother, the state of women's rights in Afghanistan has again come to the fore of public attention. In the decade since the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women are still restricted by allowances made by the male-dominated government and dependent on the protection of men.

Despite international calls for gender equality and integration, the women of Afghanistan have not yet widely become active players in the reconstruction of the country but instead symbolize past oppression. Afghan women need the backing of their men as well as the continued support of the international community to solidify their role in the peace, reconciliation, and transition processes that will safeguard them and their children in the future.

Women's rights can be an incendiary issue in Afghanistan and has the ability to fuel feuds, revenge cycles, and civil strife. Although just a single anecdote, systematic gender discrimination ripples out from the case of Gul. It has emerged that she escaped her attackers four months earlier but was returned to the home of her husband by local authorities, where she was locked in a toilet, beaten, and tortured, all for refusing to willingly submit to prostitution. Once the incident gained media attention, Gul's mother- and sister-in-law were arrested, while her husband and father-in-law have yet to be detained.

While cases of domestic abuse are widespread and underreported, there is a shifting balance in statistics that reflect the quality of life that more Afghan women may expect in the future. A comprehensive recent opinion survey by the Asia Foundation found that support for the principles of gender equality is high with 85% of respondents in support of equal educational opportunities for women, but support for women being able to work outside the home has fallen in the past five years, with 35% of respondents believing that women should not be able to work outside the home at all.

Despite the trials that Afghan women still face, great strides have been made towards improving equality through educational opportunities and peer-to-peer training programs. Women are contributing to Afghanistan's social, economic, and physical security by creating jobs. Small scale entrepreneurial undertakings headed by women have surged in number and reach in the past ten years. With the increasing participation of women, their voice in the community grows stronger. Although women have a higher stake in the outcome of peace negotiations and the development of government policy, their visibility in the process does not reflect this.

Moderate and progressive men must be the voices of reason and lead by example, as they remain the primary decision makers both in public and private life and continue to control access to rights and justice. Discrimination against women will continue to be a problem so long as fundamentalists and the uneducated see women's rights initiatives as threats rather than opportunities to develop communities. There must be vocal support and calls for clearly defined female roles in public life within Afghan society.

Women are battling to have their voices heard in the lead up to the widespread withdrawal of the international community. The concern that aid groups will leave in scales akin to those of official government and military representation is a valid one. It is time that women stop being treated as a special interest group and start receiving equal opportunities. Afghanistan's women need education and equality, not privilege.

Whitney Grespin is a programs specialist at New Century U.S., a government contracting firm specializing in intelligence sector reform and capacity building, and a volunteer Programs Coordinator at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. She previously coordinated and facilitated international educational programs and community development seminars on four continents.