For years women in Afghanistan have been subject to restrictions a href="http://www.rawa.org/wom-view.htm"imposed/a by a society steeped in fundamentalist Islamic beliefs.blockquoteIslamic fundamentalism of any kind in essence looks upon women as sub-humans, fit only for household slavery and as a means of procreation./blockquoteToday some progress has been a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1218/p07s03-wogn.html"made/a in women's rights.blockquoteSeven years after the Taliban regime was ousted, Afghan women have seen gains in areas from political rights to education./blockquoteBut with a possible settlement with the Taliban on the horizon, many women a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/18/82948/047?new=true"fear/a a return to the old days of suppression. br / In the time of the Taliban rule women a href="http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/"suffered/a at every level of society.blockquoteDuring the rule of the Taliban (1996 - 2001), women were treated worse than in any other time or by any other society. They were forbidden to work, leave the house without a male escort, not allowed to seek medical help from a male doctor, and forced to cover nbsp;themselves from head to toe, even covering their eyes. Women who were doctors and teachers before, suddenly were forced to be beggars and even prostitutes in order to feed their families./blockquoteUnder the newly adopted Constitution, women are given the same rights as men.blockquotethe citizens of Afghanistan - whether man or woman- have equal rights and duties before the law/blockquoteYet the situation for women a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1218/p07s03-wogn.html"remains/a dire.blockquoteThe few women now succeeding in business risk becoming targets for criminals, just as businessmen now are. One Kabul entrepreneur's thriving business was recently surrounded by gunmen, who then kidnapped her son. Her family fled Afghanistan following her son's escape./blockquoteThe a href="http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/"statistics/a are grim.blockquote nbsp; nbsp;
br / nbsp; nbsp;* nbsp;Every 30 minutes, an Afghan woman dies during childbirth
br / nbsp; nbsp;* 87 percent of Afghan women are illiterate
br / nbsp; nbsp;* 30 percent of girls have access to education in Afghanistan
br / nbsp; nbsp;* 1 in every 3 Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence
br / nbsp; nbsp;* 44 years is the average life expectancy rate for women in Afghanistan
br / nbsp; nbsp;* 70 to 80 percent of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan
br //blockquoteAfter 9/11, the oppression of women in Afghanistan was used as a supporting argument for U.S. military invasion of the nation. nbsp;For a time the circumstance was indeed better. nbsp;Now the Taliban is returning to power. nbsp;The religious fundamentalists continue to push their principles on the population. nbsp;Fear is a href="http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/"everywhere/a in the lives of women and girls across the nation.blockquoteNumerous school for girls have been burned down and little girls have even been poisoned to death for daring to go to school./blockquote
pOne woman,Malalai Kakar, who fought back and became a policewoman was murdered. nbsp;The Taliban a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/30/afghanistan"claimed/a responsibility for the killing naming her as a long term target.blockquoteThe Taliban killed Kakar because she worked for an Afghan government with the backing of international armed forces./blockquoteKakar and others represent an old tradition among Afghani women. nbsp;They areblockquotean alternative model of Afghan womanhood that is much older than the Taliban, the mujahideen or the communists./blockquoteThey are the modern incarnation of an ancient warrior tradition kept alive in Afghan folk tales.
pWhat the future holds for women around the world is not clear today. nbsp;That military suppression is ineffective is demonstrated in many nations around the world. nbsp;We need a very new and different approach to social and economic problems if we are to see a real reversal and the gaining of real rights by women in all of society.
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