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What rights do women have in this country?
- Afghanistan was ranked 147th out of 148 countries for women's rights in 2012
- The recently adopted Afghan constitution states that “the citizens of Afghanistan –whether man or woman—have equal rights and duties before the law.”
- The Afghan government and international community are working for women’s rights, since most women are illiterate, they are not engaged in the process.
- The government has reduced women’s rights when it feels it is politically convenient
- In February 2009, President Karzai signed a law which affects several key rights of Afghan Shi’a women
- Denies women the right to leave their homes except for “legitimate” purposes
- Forbids women from working/receiving education without their husbands’ permission
- Explicitly permits marital rape
- Diminishes the right of mothers to be their children’s guardians in the event of a divorce
- Makes it impossible for wives to inherit houses and land from their husbands –even though husbands may inherit immoveable property from their wives.
- This law only applies to Shi’a (less than 20% of women), but the it was passed at all reflects how easily women’s rights can be taken away when women are still illiterate and isolated.
Style of Dress
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Role of Women in Household
- Over 50% of Afghan girls are married or engaged by 12, and almost 60% of girls are married by 16.
- Up to 80 percent of marriages in poor rural areas are either forced or arranged.
- Most girls marry far older men (some in their 60s) whom they meet for the first time at their wedding.
- It’s common for young girls to be admitted to hospitals shortly after marriage due to psychological and physical trauma.
- Research by Global Rights estimates that almost 9 out of 10 Afghan women face physical, sexual, or psychological violence
- A lack of security from three decades of war, and the risk of kidnapping and rape, has also prompted many families to force their young daughters into marriage.
- Many girls are bartered into marriage to repay debt or resolve a dispute.
- Widespread poverty forces many parents to marry their daughters to avoid the cost of caring for them.
- Women generally have children while still young teenagers, increasing health problems and risking death for themselves and their children (the risk of death during pregnancy or childbirth for girls under 14 is five times higher than for adult women).
- Shelters try to provide protection and legal help to women, but many return to abusive homes because there is no alternative.
- Many women turn to drastic measures like self-immolation to end their suffering.
- In general, most women are confined to housework due to their lack of education and illiteracy.
Opportunities for women in Workforce/education
- Married girls do not continue their education and remain illiterate.
- Only 40% of Afghan girls attend elementary school, and only 1 in 20 girls attend school beyond the sixth grade.
- Since 2002, the number of girls attending school increased by over 30 percent; however, an estimated 1.5 million school-age girls are still not enrolled in classes.
- While more women are getting an education, many families are either unwilling to take the risk or feel educating women is unnecessary .
- Schools for girls have been burned down, hundreds of teachers educating girls have been threatened or killed, and girls and have been physically harmed while attending or walking to/from school.
- Extremists still believe that if girls are visible outside the home, they are at risk of dishonoring the family. Therefore, engaged or married girls, even if they are young, are often kept behind closed doors. Because of their culture prohibiting women to appear in public along with a widespread illiteracy, women enjoy few economic opportunities.
- Women can be employed, but only if their male relatives permit it. But with high unemployment rates, some feel employing women takes jobs from men.
- Afghanistan has 1.5 million widows and 94% of them are illiterate. Most of them have more than four children to support.
- While many widows with children will continue to be cared for by their husband’s family (marriage to surviving brothers is common), it is not always possible. Therefore, many widows are forced to beg or engage in prostitution.