Women's Rights in Afghanistan

The women in Afghanistan had all their Rights taken away when the new government was establish, going against the Charter of Human Rights declared by the United Nations. The following paper will investigate the perspectives of the United Nations, the women of Afghanistan and the Taliban on the issues of women’s right in Afghanistan. Taking away a person rights is a Crime against Humanity while the women in Afghanistan are put in situation of being harmed or in danger of being harmed.

The paper will also suggest how this atrocity could be avoided.

According to the United Nations, all humans have specific right[1] that are obliged to follow. In Afghanistan, ever since the Taliban[2] took over, they change the laws of the country which gave the women very few rights[3].The laws that the Taliban enforce went against the Human Right Charter[4] that the United Nations enforce. Afghanistan has a Party[5] that had signed to the Convention on the Prevention of the Crimes of Genocide[6], the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[7], the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment[8], the Convention on the Rights of the Child[9] and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Person in time of War[10].

Get quality help now

Bella Hamilton

Verified writer

Proficient in: Ethics

5 (234)

“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Also the Afghan Party signed the Convention on the Elimination of ALL forms of Discrimination against Women[11]. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996, they did not follow some of these Conventions that their Party had signed there for the United Nations stepped in to make sure that the women in Afghanistan were not put in situation of being harmed. The Unite nations ensured that the women participate in programs to be Equal with the men[12]. They establish Gender Advisers[13] and Human Right Adviser[14] in Afghanistan to implement equality and establish the rights that all humans have. The United Nations strongly, disagrees, the Discrimination against women in Afghanistan and will continue to help the women fight for their Rights.

The rights of the women in Afghanistan got taken away when the Taliban took over in 1996. While the Taliban were in power, the way that women got treated in Afghanistan was terrible and out of control[15]. Afghan women were forced to wear the burqa at all times, according to the Taliban "the face of a woman is a source of corruption"[16]. Women were not allowed to work, they were not allowed to get an education[17]. Girls have been attacked and even doused with acid to be kept from attending school.[18] The Taliban encouraged marriage for girls at very young ages[19]. This opened the doors to violence, husbands would beat their wives.[20] The women were punished instead of their abusers[21]. A recent study by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed 58 women and girls in prison, found that half were jailed for acts that any reasonable person would not consider a crime, like running away from abusive situations.

The women in Afghanistan get little support from police.[22] In December 1996, Radio Sharia announced that 225 Kabul women had been seized and punished for violating the sharia code of dress. The sentence was handed down by a tribunal and the women were lashed on their legs and backs for their misdemeanor.[23] The Taliban believed that women should not be seen or heard.[24] Afghan women who have spoke out say that international support has been a lot of talk without a lot of follow through[25] that they would like for promises made to be kept.[26]All women in Afghanistan are still missing some rights that every human should have. The women of Afghanistan in a constant war zone which put them in grave danger.[27] The women of who started creating and or joining Feminist Groups[28], spoke out to the world about their issues to help their situation. Those who spoke out have to hide because of death threats[29] against them. The women in Afghanistan are tired of living in a constant war zone[30].

When The Taliban took over Afghanistan, they had certain beliefs for the country, they believed in living the way their prophet Mohammed did centuries ago[31]. They had their own opinion in what was right and what was wrong. Some of the Taliban restrictions were; Banned from listening to music, banned from the watching of movies, television and videos, for everyone, banned celebrating, ordered that all people with non-Islamic names change them to Islamic ones, forced haircuts upon Afghan youth, ordered that men wear Islamic clothes and a cap, that men not shave or trim their beards, all boy students must wear turbans. They say "No turban, no education"[32] and many more restrictions. But women’s rights were their own idea. The prophet Mohammed was not this strict whit the women.

It is a hatred and fear of the women that drives the Taliban in this regard. Not all of these restrictions reflective of moderate Islam[33]. Some restrictions that the Taliban placed against women were: complete ban on women's work outside the home, requirement that women wear a Burqa, which covers them from head to toe, they also banned on the use of cosmetics and so on.[34]The Taliban incorporates Deobandis, a follow of the methodology of the Deoband Islamic movement[35], into their Islamic beliefs[36].

The law enforced by the Taliban allowed little freedom to the Afghans, and if you were to break the law, their punishments were extremely severe[37].Thee religious beliefs of this Islamic group originated from Deobandilism[38]. These laws that the Afghans had to follow went against there religion but if they were to speak up about it, they would be sentence to jail time or even killed[39]. The Taliban had ideas that they could control their women, applying laws to them that went against the Charter of Human Rights.[40] They thought it was okay to control the way they treat women in Afghanistan[41].

There weren’t much that could have been done or that was already done to prevent this atrocity. One thing that could have been done was maybe to make peace with the Taliban, and getting them to sign agreements of rights, saying that women are people too. What should have been done to prevent the Taliban from taking away all the women’s right was to instead of the world hearing and publicising what was going on to the women in Afghanistan, they should have been trying to help the females gain there rights back instead of making promises that were not keep by the United Nations and the United States Army Force.

The women of Afghanistan had all their rights taking away when the Taliban took over. The laws that the Taliban enforced went against the Human Right Charter. This is an atrocity because the Women of Afghanistan are being harmed or put in danger of being harmed. This is a Crime against Humanity. No human should have to go through what the Afghan Women did for the decade that the Taliban ruled their country.

-----------------------
[1] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, www.un.org/en/rights/ , 1948 [2] Muslim Ethnic Rebel Group who took control of Afghanistan, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KJ29Df04.html , 1996-2001 [3] Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, http://www.afghan-web.com/woman/ , 2010 [4] Human Right Charter, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml , 1948 [5] Afghan Party, http://www.afghan-web.com/history/chron/index3.html , 1965 [6] United Nations General Assembly A/231, 1946

[7] United Nations General Assembly A/217, 1946
[8] United Nations General Assembly, 2000
[9] United Nations General Assembly A/412, 1947
[10] United Nations General Assembly, 2000
[11] United Nations General Assembly A/2113, 1952
[12] Programmes, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/taskforces/ParisJoint_Workshop_Report_final.pdf , 2003 [13] Gender Adviser, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/taskforces/ParisJoint_Workshop_Report_final.pdf , 2003 [14] Human Rights Adviser, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/taskforces/ParisJoint_Workshop_Report_final.pdf , 2003 [15]

[16] Afghan women's rights are not negotiable, http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4112306.html , 2012 [17] Women's Lives Under the Taliban, http://www.now.org/issues/global/afghanwomen1.html , 2001 [18] Women's Lives Under the Taliban, http://www.now.org/issues/global/afghanwomen1.html , 2001 [19] Women's Lives Under the Taliban, http://www.now.org/issues/global/afghanwomen1.html , 2001 [20] Don’t Abandon Afghanistan’s Women, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nato-should-not-abandon-afghanistans-women/2012/05/18/gIQAmDh9YU_story.html , 2009 [21] The women of Afghanistan, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/opinion/the-women-of-afghanistan.html , 2012 [22] Afghan women fight back against harassment, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/07/201171113305407580.html , 2011 [23] Afghan Public Opinion of the Taliban,