Women+in+Afghanistan

= Women in Afghanistan = Leader: Mike Testa  Shilpa S.,Travis P., Angela M. Women have suffered worse under the Taliban than any other society. They used to be able to live freely, but then the Taliban changed the role of women forever. Even though the Taliban no longer control Afghanistan, women have never been able to live in equality, as they had before, among their family and society.

Before Taliban Control

 * Women had rights to:
 * inheritance
 * vote
 * work
 * choose partners in marriage
 * Equality of the sexes was encouraged.
 * 1964 - women helped draft the Constitution
 * 1970s - at least three women were legislators in Parliament
 * Also before the 1990s, women were:
 * teachers/professors
 * doctors
 * lawyers
 * judges
 * writers

During Taliban Control

 * Because of the Taliban's strict interpretation of the Koran, women were unemployed and could no longer:
 * travel unaccompanied by a male relative
 * drive
 * play any role in political processes
 * Since most of the teachers had been women, the boys and 3% of girls who did go to school suffered from the ban and did not receive primary education.
 * They had to wear burqas covering them from head to toe.
 * Any women who seemed to oppose the Taliban's edicts were harassed.
 * Women who were doctors and teachers before were forced to become prostitutes in order to feed their families.
 * In 2000, the UN Security Council called for an end to this discrimination by urging Afghanistan to include women in political processes.

After Taliban Control

 * Women's status substantially improved.
 * According to the Afghan constitution, they are considered to be equal to men.
 * However, women still face discrimination and harsh treatment from society and even their own families.



Sonali Kolhatkar, co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, stated, “waging war does not lead to the liberation of women anywhere. Women always disproportionately suffer the effects of war, and to think that women’s rights can be won with bullets and bloodshed is a position dangerous in its naïveté” (2009). []

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 260%; line-height: 65px;">Why Sanaubar is in //The Kite Runner//

 * Sanaubar runs away from her husband when the monarch was in control during the 70's.
 * In 2009, the Afghani girl from the TIME Magazine article ran away from her husband and was eventually brought back by the Taliban only to get her nose and ears cut off by her husband as a punishment. [][[image:http://media.cleveland.com/nationworld_impact/photo/time-magazine-afghan-girl-nosejpg-353a12e38f89803a_large.jpg width="306" height="405"]]
 * However, Sanaubar was not punished for running away. This is because when Sanaubar ran away, the monarch was in control and there were more freedoms for women then.
 * When the Taliban gained control, many of women's rights were restricted.
 * If Sanaubar ran away when the Taliban was in power, she could have easily received the same severe punishment that the Afghani girl did.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 260%;">Two Categories of Afghanis

 * ** Hosseini shows us the Old School vs. Progressive Afghani’s: **
 * Sanaubar was a **Progressive** as she wanted to step out of the realm of women domestication and do something riskier and different in terms of normal Afghani traditions. Sanaubar wanted to become a singer/dancer which “most Afghans consider far worse than death” (6).
 * Old School Afghani's would greatly disapprove of Sanaubar's actions.
 * Unfortunetly, only about 38% of Afghanistan citizens feel that women should be allowed outside their home without a male escort. []
 * The majority of Afghani's believe in the old school of thought and feel that women do not deserve equal rights

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 260%; line-height: 54px;">Quotes from the Koran

 * “Live with them (your wives) on a footing of kindness and equity. If you dislike them it may be that you dislike something in which God has placed a great deal of good” (Qur’an). - Women and men should be treated equally.
 * “If a wife fears cruelty or desertion on her husband’s part, there is no blame on them if they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves; and such settlement is best.” (Qur’an 4:128) - Aisha did not receive this grant. Taliban intervened.
 * “Do not prevent them from marrying their husbands when they agree between themselves in a lawful manner.” (Q.2:232) - Women should have a say in choosing their own life partners.
 * "Whatever men earn, they have a share of that and whatever women earn, they have a share in that." - Demonstrates equality between men and women

__<span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; padding-right: 10px;">[] __ <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; border-collapse: collapse; color: #404040; padding-right: 10px;">__http://www.un.org/events/women/2002/sit.htm__ <span style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; border-collapse: collapse; color: #404040; padding-right: 10px;">__http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/__