In the previous post, three Afghan women shared their opinion on women’s position in their home country. Apart from them, we also interviewed two people from other countries who lived in Afghanistan a while ago (each participant has a code name). The questions were the same:

1) How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today?

2)Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?

3)What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality?

Here is what our participants shared:

Satara, UK, 56 years old 

1)How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today?

There are many strong women in Afghanistan who desire to be seen, heard and respected. However, women are often treated as if they are second class citizens. They often have no voice; their opinion is not asked or counted. They can be characterized by men, as being less than they are, not equal to them or even deficient in some way. They ae routinely discriminated against and they do not have equality of opportunity or equal rights.

2)Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?

The biggest resource that women have is themselves; their passion their resilience and their will for change. There are women in Afghanistan who sacrifice much to represent other women and get their voices heard. They are an amazing resource. Organizations which support women to work collaboratively and enhance their voice are also a great resource. These internal resources can also be supported by international bodies who might have more power to enact change

 3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality?

Every small action counts. Every challenge to the way something is done. Every point where a woman holds her ground against discrimination, every organisational policy which allows equal opportunity. There is a challenge for organisations in Afghanistan. They need to take responsibility for their part of the problem and to act to fight for equality. They need to support programmes and policies which give women their rightful position and to model good practice.

S., United States, 35 years old 

1)How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today?

I am something of an outside observer, as an American man who worked in Afghanistan, so I’m not an expert. But sometimes outsiders can see things that insiders can’t. I think there have been some gains in the past 20 years and there are some opportunities for advancement, especially for higher classes. For a majority of women and for those without access to education, I think the gender gap is still very large. And even for educated women, they may face significant discouragement from within their own families (I’m making the point here that inequality in Afghanistan is not only a matter of laws and structures but also culture). Also, because of a depressed economy, job opportunities are still few in general.

 2) Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?

There are some NGOs which run vocational training programs for women, and protection centers for women fleeing domestic violence, but these are very decentralized and may not be available to the whole population, especially in rural areas. Women’s shelters are also misunderstood culturally and have a negative stigma attached to them.

3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality?

I think cultural change needs to happen. If the government only passes laws and these are viewed as imposing Western ideas, then broad change will not happen. I think that thought leaders and communities need to come up with Afghan and Islamic justifications for why women’s rights is important and why violence against women is wrong. Even terminology such as “human rights” often carries a negative connotation in Afghan culture – it is viewed as a Western idea which promotes immorality and un-Islamic values. Research should identify more helpful, locally appropriate terminology.

Other than this, I think increased economic development and access to education and technology, especially in rural areas, will help.

In our recent Facebook post, we shared the perspectives of three women from different parts of the world on the issue of gender inequality that they saw in their home counties. This time, we will focus on a particular country – Afghanistan – to see what struggles women are getting through there.
To contribute to the #DearDaughter project, three Afghan women (some names have been changed by the request of the participants) agreed to answer the following questions:

1) How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today?

2) Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?

3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality?

Here is what we have collected:

Latifa, 30 years old 

1)How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today? The women who are doing their best to take their lost rights.

2) Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have? There are many projects from different national and international organizations like UN, USAID, OXFAM, WAW, The Colombo Plan, government, etc. Most of these organizations organize projects for women and provide education, advocacy, vocational skill training, support the women in their different cases, provides shelter and employment opportunities.

3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality? The government should focus on the fundamental steps and bring changes. The support should not be limited only to projects and women in big cities.

Support should start from home and the women should feel safe there. It can be possible by encouraging the family members for gender equality through education, advertisement, and religious gathering, as the people of Afghanistan are religious and strongly believe in what says in such gatherings.

Fatema Ahmadi, 32 years old 

1) How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today? With considering 40 years of conflict in the country which affected all the people in different ways, men and women both have not been able to develop and find their best positions in society. However, this situation is even worse for women because they were considered as second citizens historically and women have not had their place in different eras. Women in Mojahedin and Taliban times had been in a very disappointing position no rights for education, work, development, and basically no right to have a voice. Women after the Taliban collapse with the support of international partners could participate in various practices in the county and they received important attention to show their desire for advocacy for their rights but even now women do not have meaningful participation in society. For example, offices, assign women in simple positions merely to complete the quota for women but if women want to be in leadership positions even the international community is not enough brave to challenge the patriotic men, tradition, and culture. Generally, Women need to have more support from national and international to get to their right position.

2)Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?  There are some national policies, mechanisms, and law to support women, but they are not very effective in practice. There are as following:

1. AFGHANISTAN’S NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON UNSCR 1325-WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
2. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

• Elimination of Violence against Women (WVAW) committee in all provinces
• violence against women (VAW)

3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality? Advocacy through national and international platforms and using social media to bring more people in this way.

AB, 31 years old 

1) How do you define women’s position in Afghanistan today?
Gender inequality is obvious in Afghanistan. Due to the old culture and conservative environment, women do not engage in society. Most of the Afghan women are responsible for doing the housework and taking care of their families and children; though, a very limited number of women with open-minded families get involved in outside work and strive to improve their life situation.

2) Are there any resources that help women to protect their rights or support them? What resources does Afghanistan have?
There is Ministry of Women ’s Affairs which is responsible for facilitating women’s rights.

3) What action do you think people might begin taking right now to achieve gender equality?
Public awareness is the most important way to aware women, men, and families about women’s rights. Family members including men and women should collaboratively attempt to empower themselves and help each other in order to improve their lives. Afghan people need to reconsider their old and negative culture and accept the right and modern approaches to survive themselves. Women should not accept any oppression and their families should support them in this regard.