{"id":17115,"date":"2024-03-08T14:11:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T13:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/?p=17115"},"modified":"2024-03-08T14:11:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T13:11:41","slug":"de-voortdurende-strijd-voor-vrouwenrechten-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/de-voortdurende-strijd-voor-vrouwenrechten-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"The ongoing struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Afghan women speak at the UN: \"Give us a seat at the table.\" - Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Today, the 8th of March, we celebrate International Women\u2019s Day: a day that honours women\u2019s contributions and achievements, highlights their right to gender equality, and sheds light on the challenges they face. As the world reflects on the progress achieved and the road ahead, we focus on Afghanistan\u2014a nation grappling with a severe regression in women\u2019s rights. Since the Taliban's resurgence in 2021, Afghan women have endured a relentless assault on their basic freedoms. They no longer have access<\/a> to education after sixth grade, have been banned from going to parks and gyms, and are not allowed to work outside of health and education, sparking international concern and calls for action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite initial global solidarity, media coverage and attention to the plight of Afghan women has decreased in recent months, even as their situation continues to deteriorate. A United Nations report<\/a> released on February 16th, 2024, highlights escalating harassment, fear of arbitrary arrest, and the normalization of gender-based subordination within Afghan society. FMS spoke with women\u2019s rights activist Husna Jalal to find out more about the current state of women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Increasing escalation of women's rights<\/b><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of Kabul\u2019s fall, the Taliban swiftly implemented a series of oppressive measures targeting women and girls. Of the 80 edicts that the Taliban have released in the first two years since they regained power, 54 specifically target<\/a> the rights and liberties of women and girls. Jalal emphasized the gravity of the situation: \u201cWe are in 2024, and Afghanistan is the only country where education is banned for girls. Imagine being a girl in Afghanistan, what kind of life can you have?\u201d \u201cWith each passing day, girls are losing their hopes,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jalal also discussed the influence of the further deteriorating mental health of Afghan women: \u201cThere is a mental health crisis now, the situation is very bad.\u201d \u201cThe forced marriage rate has increased, so have the suicide rates, and also the amount of internally displaced families,\u201d she explains. Research conducted<\/a> by the UN in 2023 resulted in the same conclusion, and found that Afghan women suffer from psychological problems including depression, loss of hope and motivation, anxiety, fear, aggression, increasingly isolationist behaviour, and thoughts of suicide as a result of the restrictions imposed on them by the Taliban regime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Imposed democracy<\/b><\/p>\n

Jalal additionally brings up the importance of the international community\u2019s approach to addressing the crisis in Afghanistan. She highlights past intervention failures and stresses the importance of genuine Afghan representation in charting the nation\u2019s future. External imposition of ideologies, she argues, has only hindered progress towards lasting solutions for democracy in Afghanistan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States, along with its allies, intervened militarily in Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban regime. Under pressure<\/a> from the U.S. and other powers, an agreement was brokered by the United Nations and brought together various Afghan factions, including representatives of different ethnic groups and political backgrounds, to negotiate a political framework for the country\u2019s future. This was the Bonn Agreement, signed in December 2001, and played a pivotal role in shaping Afghanistan\u2019s post-Taliban political landscape. The United States maintained its military presence in Afghanistan following the invasion and aimed to democratize Afghanistan. They established a centralized presidential system, but the parliament lacked<\/a> sufficient authority to effectively oversee the president. Under this system, the president was granted the power to appoint all provincial governors. It is further important to note that the Bush administration did not facilitate a transparent process for Afghans to democratically elect their first post-Taliban president. Instead, through the Bonn Agreement, they selected Hamid Karzai for the position and pressured Afghans to endorse this decision. \u201cThe West brought democracy to Afghanistan, the democracy was brought from outside, so that is why the people in Afghanistan never accepted it,\u201d Jalal argues.<\/span><\/p>\n

The collapse of the Afghan government and military in 2021, though shocking, was not unexpected. The problems started long before President Joe Biden decided to pull out troops. His predecessor, Donald Trump, made a deal with the Taliban in February 2020. This deal set a date for the U.S. to leave in 2021 and did not insist<\/a> on a peace agreement among Afghans. Afghan soldiers and leaders lost hope, and talks to settle things politically were never a priority during the war. Instead, the focus was on short-term military goals. This approach ignored the fact that there were essentially two Afghanistans as the Taliban had control over most of the rural areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope for the future<\/b><\/p>\n

Jalal remains resolute in her commitment to raising awareness through social media and other platforms. \u201cI realized that I need to use my own voice, on social media, and on other platforms, to raise awareness about the situation of women in Afghanistan.\u201d She works for organisations such as the Young Afghan Women's Movement, that offers online education and support. Despite mounting challenges, Husna says Afghan women refuse to surrender hope: \u201cThese women are not losing their hope, they are the future of Afghanistan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the world marks International Women's Day, the plight of Afghan women demands urgent attention and action. The international community must pay attention to their calls, amplify their voices, and work tirelessly to ensure that Afghan women are not forgotten in the pursuit of a more just and equitable world.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foto: Afghaanse vrouwen spreken bij de VN: “Geef ons een plaats aan tafel.”\u00a0– Flickr Vandaag, 8 maart, vieren we Internationale Vrouwendag: een dag waarop we de bijdragen en prestaties van vrouwen eren, hun recht op gendergelijkheid benadrukken en reflecteren op de uitdagingen waarmee ze worden geconfronteerd. Terwijl de wereld stilstaat bij de geboekte vooruitgang en […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[251,252],"class_list":["post-17115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-afghanistan","tag-vrouwenrechten","location-afghanistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}