If
there is one war torn land among too many that has long needed peace it is probably
Afghanistan. While peace in Afghanistan has to be a good thing, that peace may
come with a particularly high price for Afghan women. These are anxious times
for Afghan women, as they are trapped between the grim consequences of war and
the prospects of a potentially grim peace.
When
the Taliban fell from power, many Afghans hoped for peace and a legitimate stable
government. Women and girls who had suffered such brutality during the Taliban
era, and in previous decades of conflict, hoped for improvements in their
lives. World leaders promised a great deal of help and there were improvements which
came quickly as girls began to return to schools in some numbers, women became
more visible in public life and many returned to work.
Barely
13 years have passed since the attacks on New York and Washington DC and the US
lead NATO coalition invasion of Afghanistan which overthrew the Taliban
government. Victory, however that is defined in Afghanistan has proved
particularly elusive. Since 2001 some 3,475 international troops have died in a
campaign that but for the distraction of the invasion of Iraq, should have been
over years ago. At present some 40,000 troops (mostly from the NATO-led
coalition) remain in Afghanistan, this figure is down from a peak commitment of
150,000 back in 2011.
The
NATO-led coalition plans to retain around 12,000 troops in the country after
its combat mission officially comes to an end on December 31, 2014. Since 2001,
453 British troops have died during the campaign and 615 British personnel have
been seriously, or very seriously, wounded. 7,422 British personnel have been treated in field
hospitals during the campaign. 2,187 were classified as wounded in action and
5,235 were treated for disease and non-battle injuries.
The
number of Afghan civilians killed or injured in the conflict in the first six
months of 2014 rose by a quarter from 2013 levels to nearly 5,000 people. The
UN says three quarters of the deaths and injuries were the result of insurgent
attacks. It has been estimated (in 2013) that the UK will have spent at least £
37 billion pounds on the campaign, expenditure will top out at £ 40 billon
pounds by 2020.
There
have been some real improvements, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan; only 1.2
million students were enrolled in schools, with some 50,000 of those being girls.
Thirteen years down the line, NATO noted that there were 8.2 million students
and nearly 40 percent, or 3.2 million, were girls.
Afghanistan
when compared with much of the autocratic neighbouring states of Eurasia (particularly
in Central Asia) is a relatively flourishing if wobbly democracy. Several
million Afghans actually voted to choose a successor to Hamid Karzai in the
first round of this year’s presidential election campaign. While the final result
took five months to resolve after a row about electoral fraud it was peacefully
resolved.
Back in July 2013 the problem of all pervasive corruption which impacts
on all aspects of normal life and the lack of transparency were recognized by
the US Government. They remain the main challenges towards establishing a
self-sustaining Afghanistan and a stable Afghan government.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has also reported that prosecutors and
judges are among the government officials most likely to receive bribes. This
is something that does not suggest that the Afghan end of the failing war on
drugs is going to work anytime soon.
The
US Senate (back in July 2013) recognized that despite tangible improvements
since 2001 that Afghan women face entrenched discrimination and real limits to
their freedom. Violence against women remains widespread and largely
underreported. Recent ISAF efforts to get Afghan authorities to respond to
complaints by women actually resulted in an increase in reporting of such
violence.
Yet
despite improvements Afghan women and girls have continued to pay a heavy price
in the zones of conflict in Afghanistan: they have been killed and wounded by
insurgents, hit by and airstrikes; been subject to local codes of honor, the
victims of intrusive “night raids” by both the Taliban, Hezb-i-Islami and
international soldiers. Women’s movement has been restricted by insecurity; and
this has meant the loss of access to work for family breadwinners.
The
Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami insurgents have regularly denied
Afghan girls the right to education with attacks on schools and threats against
teachers or students. In the more unstable areas, women have been denied the
right to work and attacked or threatened for working outside their homes.
On
the back of the positives peace should be welcomed, but if the Taliban and
other insurgent commanders are brought into government as part of the peace
process – it is Afghan women (and girls) who may pay the ultimate price. There
are real concerns that violence and threats directed against women will only
increase along with hostility to women’s rights and day-to-day harassment.
Those
women, who speak up for their rights, including female members of Parliament,
regularly come under threat. These threats may become greater particularly for
those who voice their fears and concerns about the political reemergence of the
Taliban, whose leaders are accustomed to threatening and killing those who
criticize or oppose them.
The threats don’t just come from the Taliban. As
international interest in Afghanistan begins to wane and the country fades from
the headlines, the opponents of women’s rights have already begun to roll back
the progress made since the end of Taliban rule (and this is before the Taliban
have been brought in from the cold).
Back in May 2013 an Afghan parliamentary debate on the
ground-breaking Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW Law),
passed by presidential decree in 2009, was halted after barely 15 minutes of
debate after numerous lawmakers argued for the law’s repeal and spoke out
against the proposed legal protections for women and girls.
In
the last few years a number of prominent women in Afghan public life have been
murdered, including provincial councilor and peace activist Sitara Achakzai, a
senior police commander Malalai Kakar, an outspoken journalist Zakia Zaki, and
women’s affairs director Safia Amajan. Their killers have never been brought to
justice. This effective impunity actually emboldens those responsible and has
greatly added to the risks and fears faced by activist women.
There
are genuine concerns that the reintegration and reconciliation negotiations
could seriously affect women’s rights. The Afghan government (based on its
recent track record) probably won’t actively protect women’s hard earned
rights. The Karzai government has sacrificed rights to appease hard line
religious factions for the sake of short-term political expediency. The soon to
be ex-President signed the discriminatory Shia Personal Status Law (which
denied numerous rights of Shia women, including child custody and freedom of
movement), back in March 2009 and also provided presidential pardons for two
convicted gang rapists.
The Afghan government has given little reassurance to women who are
understandably concerned about the risks of reintegration and reconciliation.
Back in April 2010, Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, (the Minister of Economy) a
prominent Hezb-i-Islami leader, allegedly informed a gathering of women leaders
discussing reconciliation that women would have to sacrifice their interests
for the sake of peace.
Afghan government officials offer weak promises that only those who were
not connected to al Qaeda, renounced violence, and agreed to abide by the
Afghan constitution would be allowed to reintegrate or join the reconciliation
process. Article 22 of the Afghan constitution publically enshrines the
equality of men and women, the constitution is no guarantee as it is often
routinely ignored and violated, and there are very limited legal avenues for
redress for women – there will be even less once NATO departs and Afghanistan
fades from the news.
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