Women in Iraq and Afghanistan: U.S. Actions Do Little To Help

Off Our Backs, Jul/Aug 2004 by Marshall, Lucinda

In the aftermath of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the situation of women is no longer on our radar screen, despite its use as a justification for the ouster of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. In both countries there were some initially positive(and well-publicized) changes. However, as time goes on, it is becoming clear that the situation for women has not significantly improved, and has in some ways worsened, since the respective governments were overthrown. While many similarities exist for women in countries where conflict has taken place, the specifics vary substantially and thus the conditions for women in Afghanistan and Iraq are reported separately below.

Afghanistan

When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, one of the justifications used was that we needed to liberate women in that country from the Taliban -although we had originally been instrumental in putting the Taliban in power and had never before expressed substantial interest in the situation of women in Afghanistan. Laura Bush was quoted as saying, "The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women." After the overthrow of the Taliban, we were shown jubilant pictures of women throwing off their burquas and girls happily going to school. Unfortunately, this rosy picture, for the most part, was short lived, especially outside the capitol of Kabul.

Currently, there is a draft constitution that guarantees women equal rights, as well as 20% of the seats in the future National Assembly (stronger guarantees than U.S. women have in our Constitution). But these guarantees are largely negated by a clause that states that no law can be contrary to the beliefs of Islam. The Chairman of the Constitutional Convention told women delegates, "Even God has not given you equal rights because under his decision, two women are counted as equal to one man."

President Hamid Karzai's government, despite much rhetoric, has proven to be blatantly anti-women in its actions and inactions. Little has been done to help women find jobs and to provide the basic necessities for their families. Reliable electricity and potable water are still scarce. Girls' schools lack such basics as books and chairs. Women cannot sing on Kabul television and women's songs are not played. Critically, there is no legal protection for women. Many of those in power now are the same men who imposed anti-women restrictions in 1992 and started a reign of misogynist terror where thousands of women and girls were systematically raped.

Security is still an overwhelming problem for women. Amnesty International recently concluded that the Karzai government is unable to protect women and that the risk of sexual violence at the hands of various armed factions is still high. Women and girls are threatened with violence in every aspect of their lives, including being subjected to forced marriages, sexual slavery and prostitution. There is a high rate of forced marriages, particularly among young girls. Sometimes a girl's family pushes for the marriage. But in many cases the marriage is used to resolve a tribal conflict and is overtly supported by armed factions, local officials and tribal warlords, many of whom wield more power than the central government. For example, if a man kills another man, tribal elders may order the killer to give a woman in his family to the killer's family as compensation.

In Kabul and a few other cities, girls are free to go to school and have jobs but this is not the case in most parts of the country. According to CARE, an international humanitarian organization, only one tenth of girls in outlying provinces are able to go to school. In one province, it is estimated that 80% of young girls are the victims of forced marriages.

In Herat, women cannot walk or take a taxi without a male relative as an escort. If a woman is seen without such a man she can be forced to undergo an exam to see if she has had recent sexual intercourse. Because of the oppression of women, the suicide rate (frequently by self-immolation) among girls and young women is much higher than when the Taliban was in power. From September through February of this last year, there have been 40 cases of immolation in Herat because of the continued tradition of forced marriages. One NGO worker, comparing present conditions to the Taliban era said that under the Taliban, if a woman showed her flesh she would be flogged; now she will be raped.

Sonali Kolhatkar, of the Afghan Women's Mission, offers these suggestions for ways in which the U.S. could take concrete steps to help Afghani women:

1. Instead of arming fundamentalist warlords who threaten the safety of women, the U.S. could participate in the United Nations campaign to disarm them.

2. The U.S. could provide funds to combat malnutrition and maternal mortality and fund schools, provide food assistance, etc.

Iraq

While Saddam Hussein's regime was oppressive, it did initially give Iraqi women more rights than they had in other Middle Eastern countries. They could vote, attend school, hold public office and own property. Women were guaranteed the right to prevent their husbands from taking a second wife (which is allowed in Islam) and they were not required to wear headscarves.