A bloody confrontation has continued in Afghanistan for many decades, but there is no hope for a speedy resolution to the conflict. Today, the country is a real time bomb, which can undermine the precarious world in the entire region. The Taliban managed to be removed from power in 2001, but the representatives of the radical Islamist movement to this day represent a serious force in Afghanistan that must be reckoned with.
Under the Taliban regime, significant changes have occurred that have affected the lives of women in Afghanistan. Many gender issues have remained unresolved to this day, but now, fortunately, the situation is gradually starting to improve. Everything was much worse in the eighties and nineties of the last century, when women were virtually deprived of all rights.
Main limitations
From the age of eight, the girl was forbidden to contact a man. The only exceptions were the husband and male relatives, who are called mahram. They were not allowed to appear on the street unaccompanied by a husband or relative and without Muslim clothing that completely covers the face and body, leaving only eyes. Afghan girls could not wear high-heeled shoes because the sound of footsteps can annoy a man, which is unacceptable.
In addition, the fair sex was forbidden to speak loudly in public places. By no means should any outsider have heard their conversation. All the windows of the first floors of the buildings were boarded up or painted over so that the women who were inside were not visible from the street. In private homes, a high fence was often installed instead.
Women in Afghanistan cannot be photographed or filmed; their images are not allowed to be placed in books, magazines, newspapers, or even in their own homes. All phrases in which the word "woman" was present were modified. For example, the "female yard" was changed to the "spring yard". Afghans could not appear on the balconies of any buildings, speak on radio or television, attend any cultural events.
How Afghanistan treats women because of these restrictions is already clear. The restrictions were distorted beyond recognition, although they were created on the basis of the Islamic dress code and Sharia. The actions of the Taliban were actually aimed at infringing on the rights of women, since there is no law in Sharia, according to which the fair sex can not work, move around independently, hide her hands and face. On the contrary, education is welcome.
Appearance
Women in Afghanistan cannot wear colorful clothes, as the Taliban consider it sexually attractive. A 1996 decree states that Afghans who wear tight and vibrant clothing and jewelry will never go to heaven. All beauty salons were banned, as were cosmetics or nail polishes. Women had to cover the whole body, including the face. The wearing of a burqa (burqa, veil) was especially encouraged - a loose bathrobe with long sleeves and a mesh covering his face.
Movement
Without a husband or male relative, an Afghan woman was effectively placed under house arrest. Strict restrictions made impossible any practical movement. For example, Latifu, an Afghan woman, was beaten by a Taliban mob because she walked alone along the street. But Latifa killed her father in the war, she did not have brothers, husband or sons. And in the shelter in Kabul, after the Taliban came to power, about 400 girls were locked in the building for almost a year.
In addition, the fairer sex is not allowed to drive a car (even if there is an accompanying person - a husband or a male relative), to call a taxi. Women and men cannot ride public transport together. Such restrictions to a lesser extent affected the lives of women in Afghanistan from small villages that worked within their territory. But they could not travel to neighboring villages.
Employment
The Taliban claimed that at work a woman could have sex with a colleague during working hours, which is contrary to Sharia law. So in September 1996, all women in the country were barred from any type of hired work. This mass dismissal was a real disaster for the economy, especially in the field of households and education, where mainly the weaker sex worked.
Then the supreme leader assured that women who worked in government posts or in education will receive a monthly allowance ($ 5). Members of the radical movement welcomed the observance of patriarchal values and the allocation of funds for the payment of benefits.
The only area women could stay in is medicine. Women doctors were needed to treat the fairer sex, but a number of strict restrictions were imposed on them. Many voluntarily left their jobs due to sexual segregation and harassment practices. For this reason, female doctors, whose number in one of Kabul’s hospitals alone decreased from 200 to 50, were very much appreciated. Only they were able to provide medical care (including obstetric care) to other women.
After the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, a humanitarian catastrophe developed. Many women needed qualified medical care, while actual female doctors were absent. Representatives of humanitarian organizations were allowed to stay at work. According to the Taliban, they could help other helpless women and promote the usefulness of the norms.
Education
Women's rights in Afghanistan are violated everywhere. The same applies to education. Formally, the Taliban encouraged education, but only up to eight years. It was explained that such measures were taken to prevent contact with men and as an additional security measure. The curriculum was changed: it became more “Islamic", encouraged young Afghan girls to commit jihad.
In Kabul, more than 100 thousand girls were removed from school, almost 8 thousand teachers were dismissed, 63 schools were immediately closed due to lack of staff. Some teachers continued to teach in secret; they taught adult women and Afghan girls in their homes. This is a huge risk because at best teachers could go to jail, and at worst they could even lose their lives.
Healthcare
Before the Taliban came to power, male doctors in emergency situations were allowed to provide medical assistance to women, but after the decree that a man was forbidden to touch the body of another woman, this became impossible. As a result, the situation became widespread when the fairer sex had to travel long enough distances to get help.
In Kabul, there were informal clinics in their own homes that served the family and neighbors, but of course they could not provide the necessary medicines. Significantly increased the percentage of premature deaths among women. Families with sufficient finances were able to receive health care in neighboring Pakistan. In 1998, it was forbidden to visit hospitals; medical care could only be obtained in special wards. In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, there were only one in such a hospital.
In 1996, women were forbidden to attend baths, since this (according to representatives of a radical organization) was contrary to religious laws. The bathhouse was the only way for many women in Afghanistan to abide by personal hygiene rules, so this ban caused a surge in infectious diseases.
Marriage and children
Girls are married very early. Afghan weddings are often forced. A man is allowed to have up to seven wives at the same time, but not a single one should be deprived of his attention, all women should be provided with material resources. Now not many Afghans have several wives - this is too expensive a pleasure.
The greatest danger to women in Afghanistan is not even the Taliban, but their own family. Today, many women suffer from abuse and oppression, are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological violence. Some find help in shelters, but most return to families where they were offended, because there is simply no other alternative.
Culture
Women and their images cannot be present in any media, and any phrases with the word “woman” were replaced by alternative ones. The fairer sex was not allowed to go in for sports and go to sports clubs. All this affected the condition of Afghan women. The survey found that 91% of them experience symptoms of depression.
Penalties
Women were punished publicly, more often in stadiums or city squares. In 1996, one Afghan woman had her thumb cut off because her nails were painted on; in the same year, 255 women were beaten with a lash for violating dress code rules. In 1999, a certain Zarmina was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, who insulted and beat her. The woman was tortured, did not confess to the murder that her daughter actually committed, and not herself.
Afghan woman Aisha Bibi was forcibly married at the age of twelve. Six years later, she tried to escape and return to her native family, but her father passed his daughter to the Taliban commander. The unfortunate girl was cut off her nose and ears, and then left to die in the mountains, but she survived.
There were cases when men were punished because of women. For example, a taxi driver was punished who took a woman unaccompanied by a husband or male relative, husbands of those representatives of the weaker sex who alone were engaged in washing clothes by the river, and so on.
It wasn’t always like that.
Women's rights in Afghanistan have not always been violated. In 1919, for example, residents of the country got the opportunity to vote in elections, and in the middle of the last century they were allowed not to wear a burqa. In 1960, the Constitution introduced a rule on equal rights (excluding gender). But turmoil, poverty, lack of legal and social protection, orphanhood and widowhood have made Afghan women completely dependent on men. Everything got worse when the radical Taliban came to power.
Military women
Now the situation has improved a bit. But still there are serious problems that prevent women in Afghanistan from living quietly. Now there are even women who serve in the army. They gain access where it is impossible for men, trained in behavior in different situations, learn local traditions and Pashtun language. True, female military personnel in Afghanistan are mostly American, and Afghan translators are very rare.
Famous women
Today, many women are doing everything in their power to improve the situation of local residents. For example, Favzia Kufi, a former member of parliament, promotes laws to protect women's rights, Robina Mukimyar Jalalai participated in the Olympics in 2005, and then ran for parliament, and Mogdah Jamalzadah was something like Asian Oprah Winfrey, the girl made a real sensation television.
Also known in the West is Sharbat Gul, who was long called simply an Afghan girl. She became famous thanks to the photo that hit the cover of National Geographic magazine. An amazing photo of Sharbat Gula, taken in 1984, is compared with a portrait of Mona Lisa. Then Gule was about twelve years old.