User:Zain ul Afghan/sandbox

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Women Human Right Violations in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is one of the countries which is still in war and the country which is drawing back instead of developing. In the past, women had more freedom and their human rights have been considered than today. Some of the Afghan society and people still follow the dictatorship or prehistoric rules of social structure as a patriarchal family system. Such a patriarchal society has given limited rights to Afghan women and mostly avoids them from their basic rights by giving the religious view. Many years ago, while people created a democratic government, there have been some basic women's rights considerations but not followed by the majority of the people. Women were granted the rights of education and health care services but they have not accessed such basic rights in some rural areas. Women as half of a society have the same human rights and freedom as men do. In Afghanistan, only men’s human rights matter, and only men have the freedom to do anything. According to the Afghan Women’s Network (1997), women always suffer from violence in different forms and different levels. All this violence has been justified by religion, law, and culture or tradition. Steps were taken for women’s rights protection, always followed on women but not considered to take action against men. (p. 13). In this study, I will discuss the violations of women's human rights in different views such as patriarchal society, religious view, the role of war on women human rights violations. Women Human Rights in Patriarchal Society The patriarchal society which makes the majority of Afghan societies has such a prehistoric law. Women are considered to be a slave for men and all their life decisions depend on their male family members to be decided. According to Lucinda Marshal (2004), women and girls are threatened with violence in every aspect of their lives, including being subjected to forced marriages, sexual slavery, and prostitution (p. 12). A male family member has the right to decide about the girls and women in their family and the most important rights such as the right to marriage, right to education, right to decide in life all are dependent on men in the family. Firstly, forced marriages have an increasing rate in rural areas as men in the family decide about women in their family to whom they should marry and when. Women human rights in term of marriage has been violated since the time of Mujahidin. Women and girls were forced to marry the man they did not know and most women were used as a political tool. According to Lucinda Marshal (2004), 80% of young girls are the victims of forced marriages (p. 12). Secondly, women have no right to appear on social media, sing, any television program. Their right to a free social life has been violated and they cannot live as equal as men in society. Women do not have basic freedom and human rights in some areas of Afghan society as they cannot appear on television and cannot sing a song in public (Marshal, 2004, p. 12). Rights to live a free life are given to all human beings and women are human too and they have the right to live freely as they wish but they cannot live as free as men in Afghanistan. Women do not have the right to go out alone without a male escorting them in some of the provinces and rural areas. In Heart province, women cannot go out without a male accompany (Marshal, 2004, p. 12). There are many cases where women got punished for asking for their rights and appearing in social media not only by local people but by the Taliban and government. According to Sima Samar (2019), a young Afghan woman whose nose and ear was cut off and was the headline of TIME magazine (p. 153). She just disobeyed the social life restriction and wanted to live a free life out of the slavery system. Her inn law family and her father used to cut off her nose and ear. Lastly, women have to follow the rules made by men and one of them is the hijab. The hijab had become mandatory for women in 1992, while men had not as much limitation as women had (p. 151). These rules were made to hide women's appearance and women's participation in society and social activity but by the men who are afraid to lose their manhood by seeing a girl’s appearance or their behavior. To conclude, in a patriarchal society such as Afghanistan, women's human rights have been violated in every aspect of their lives while violence against women and girls is the most pervasive violation of human rights in the world today where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime. Women Human Rights in Islamic Society Religion and belief have very impactful roles in human rights and especially women's human rights. Afghanistan is an Islamic country where the majority of people follow Islamic rules, therefore the Islamic law in Women Human Rights is effective in Afghanistan. Islam has given a different value for gender though equalizing them in different ways. I would like to focus on property rights and the right to divorce and child custody. According to Benjamin G. Bishin and Feryal M. Cherif (2017), religion and religious norms in Islam shows gender inequality in Muslim countries (p. 504). Islamic countries consider women physically inappropriate for heavy work but mentally stronger than men, therefore women have different rights in different life conditions. Overall, Islamic countries including Afghanistan have valued women with a high position and respect but some rules which have been set in the society had been described by the people for their benefit and named them as religious law. Women's status in families would improve if they have the equal property right in Islam (Benjamin, Bishin, Feryal, &, Cherif, 2017, p. 501). I am a Muslim and I have seen how the real rules of Islam are but people have changed some in their favor. The reality is that Islam has given equal property rights to women though not only from parents but also from their in-law's families. Daughters can take half part of the property from their parents and a half from their in-laws but boys can take one part only from their parents. This is how Islam has given equal rights to men and women. In many families in Muslim countries, the family law is structured as religious law or “keyword of Islamic identity” (Benjamin, Bishin, Feryal, &, Cherif, 2017, p. 505). Family laws or the laws people set for structuring their family and ruling over their family, they used the religious beliefs of people to support their structured law while it is not proved yet that Islam has given such law for people and in Holy Quran, there is no word from such law. Women are limited by not having equal rights as men in Islamic societies such as rights in divorce, child custody, freedom of movement, and other family law (Benjamin, Bishin, Feryal, &, Cherif, 2017, p. 506). It is also a similar case as before, use of religion to support their fake law. In Islam it is said, men and women have equal rights and in case if any of the partners want to divorce they have the freedom but if women have not any job or financial support then women cannot take custody of the child because they won’t be able to raise the child and fulfill their needs and as far as I have seen in every religion it is the same. It is more obvious that patriarchal societies rule the society by giving patriarchal law and rules as religious views (Benjamin, Bishin, Feryal, &, Cherif, 2017, p. 515). Afghanistan is a patriarchal society and they mostly use the religious belief of people to support their patriarchal law. To conclude my point, Islam has given equal rights for men and women in society and it is people who misuse the religious beliefs of people for supporting their point of view and their patriarchal law on the society. Women Human Rights in Warfare Country Afghanistan is a country that is suffering from war for more than four decades. It is a warfare country that impacts on everyday lives of citizens and society's rules and freedom. Afghan social system and social rules for women have been impacted due to war and insecurity. I would like to discuss the suffering of Afghan women during the different political groups and the rise of different governments which would give a clear image of women’s human right violation during the war. Afghanistan was a country that got freedom in 1919 and had experienced freedom and peace for a while but after that different groups rose and took away the peace and freedom from women. According to Sima Samar (2019), women’s rights have been considered and respected before as they could go to school and there was a vast number of women in the army but since the invasion of the Taliban, it is completely reversed (p. 146). While before the Taliban women had more freedom to choose their lifestyle and to have the right to education but after the Taliban rise they not only took their right to education but also changed the Afghan women's appearance in society. At the time of the Taliban regime, women were banned from education and working outside of the house and they had no access to basic health care services (Samar, 2019, p. 151). The Taliban had changed the women’s role in society by prohibiting them from working outside and appearing in public without the blue burqa and full-body cover. Taliban ordered the Afghan women to wear blue burqas and none of their body parts should be visible and banned from creating noise or distraction (Samar, 2019, p. 151). Afghan women could not stand against the Taliban and could not ask for their rights. According to the Afghan Women’s Network (1997), women have been banned from going to school and could not stand against the injustice, and whoever stands they have been responded with a harsh punishment by the Taliban (p. 13). Taliban had ruled harshly on women and have used them as a tool and housewives but never considered them equal to men. Women’s human rights violations had always existed in Afghanistan (Afghan Women’s Network, 1997, p. 13). The situation of families was not that good to fight for women’s rights besides fighting for poverty and everyday lives. According to Sima Samar (2019), the use of Afghan women as a political tool at the time of mujahideen, the fighters were kidnapping the young girls and taking them for their use as a tool, and families could not fight back due to security and poverty (p. 149). This is how the political groups and fighters have considered women's rights at the time they were ruling over Afghan society. After the Taliban, the situation got better and women started to have some of their basic rights. According to Lucinda Marshal (2004), after the Taliban, women in Afghanistan started to live in freedom by enrolling in education and took out burqas but it was only in the capital (p. 11). Women living in Kabul were getting the rights of education and appearing without the blue burqa which is no more than a coffin for women but women in rural areas still do not have the freedom to learn education and live their own desired lives. The solution for the Taliban regime's time was equal rights and universal education for men and women but after the Taliban, the situation becomes more critical as they have started the genocide. According to Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims (2007), since the enrollment of women and girls in education and government sectors, the terror attacks and violations have increased against women (p. 650). Security is still one of the most important problems for women which increases every day in Afghanistan. To have sustainable peace and a secure environment for protecting human rights we need to destroy the terrorist themselves. According to Lucinda Marshal (2004), “the fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women” (p. 11). Women are half of the society and if they are being impacted by insecurity and unequal treatment in the society then half of society has been impacted by this issue, we have to destroy or fight the terrorists who affect half of our society and take our society backward. According to Sima Samar (2019), the real peace and promotion for human rights protection would be to have sustainable peace and development of women’s rights (p. 155). Firstly we have to create equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women in society to reach for a sense of sustainable peace. Recently, there is a peace discussion between the government and the Taliban and we can take one step closer to reach our goal of a feeling of sustainable peace and as we can see, women are considered to be most affected from the war and peace process and they have to be considered in peace discussion as it would have significant influence for women to ensure their security and rights in the future. To conclude my point, women have suffered enough from inequality during this war in Afghanistan and it is time to repay their patience and sacrifices and give them the freedom they deserve. It is the time to provide a secure life and equal treatment in society for Afghan women. Some people claim that Afghan women have developed enough and their human rights have been considered, though they have to live in the private sphere and not to appear in the public sphere. They not only misunderstood women’s human rights but also justify their violence by limiting women in the private sphere and keeping them as one of their property. Some people in Afghan society believe that women are a part of their property and that is the reason they have created different rules and regulations and protected their rules by giving religious views, pride, and culture. In addition, war also left its effect on women’s human rights which are also being protected by such people who consider women as property. In conclusion, women’s human rights have been impacted, changed, and structured differently with different excuses and reasons. Women’s human rights have been structured in patriarchal society according to the desire of men in the society and have been imposed on women by force. Women's human rights have been changed by using religious beliefs of people in Islamic countries while in reality there are no such rules and inequality in Islam. Women’s human rights have been impacted by war and terrorists and banned women from development and overridden Afghan women from their rights and freedom. Women’s human rights should be considered and should be respected by people and government and most importantly, the United Nation should support women to live as equal as men in society. Women’s human rights have been violated in Afghanistan in different ways and it should be studied by international law and human rights organizations and should give the rights women deserve to live in society.

Reference Afghan Women's Network. (1997). Afghanistan: "The Biggest Prison for Women in the World". Off Our Backs, 27(3), 12-13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20835779

Bantekas, I., & Oette, L. (2013). International Human Rights: Law and Practice. The Human Rights of Women (931-981). Cambridge University Press.

Bishin, B., & Cherif, F. (2017). Women, Property Rights, and Islam. Comparative Politics, 49(4), 501-519. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26330985

Farhoumand-Sims, C. (2007). Unfulfilled Promises: Women and Peace in Post-Taliban Afghanistan. International Journal, 62(3), 642-663. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40184865

Marshall, L. (2004). Women in Iraq and Afghanistan: U.S. Actions Do Little To Help. Off Our Backs, 34(7/8), 11-13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20838123

Samar, S. (2019). FEMINISM, PEACE, AND AFGHANISTAN. Journal of International Affairs, 72(2), 145-158. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26760839