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.