Women in Afghanistan

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Now that Afghanistan has been "liberated" from fundamentalism, what will the future be like for the women of that nation? Their fate will depend to a great degree on whether or not Afghanistan really has been liberated from fundamentalism - in other words, what voice will be given to women and what role they will play in politics and society.

Islamic fundamentalism, in Afghanistan as well as elsewhere, has engaged in a systematic and vicious program of gender apartheid where women are consistently oppressed, suppressed, and treated as if they aren't really human beings. Too often, this sort of attitude tends to be romanticized, both by people in the West and by Muslims themselves. When Cheryl Benard first visited Afghanistan, she was told that women were happy with the roles they were given and that they simply were not interested in having anything more. This was simply "their culture," this was the way it had been for hundreds of years and it wasn't going to change.

However, when Benard actually talked with women, she discovered that the truth was quite different: the women in Afghanistan did want more out of life and they did not want to be treated like property. There was nothing "romantic" about the way the men acted and the attitudes they held towards their mothers, sisters and wives. Women had, in fact, organized against these attitudes by establishing RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, in 1977.

A consciously left-wing organization, RAWA was designed to fight for human rights and for social justice generally, but also for women's rights specifically. It owes its existence to one women in particular, Meena, who was assassinated in 1987 in Pakistan, by Afghan agents of the KGB in cooperation with fundamentalist group run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Even today RAWA still focuses upon her life and death as symbols for the struggle of all women in Afghanistan, but that doesn't stop them from also looking toward the future in which such struggles will no longer be necessary - and, if women are to have a better place in Afghan society, it will be mostly due to the efforts of RAWA.

Unfortunately most people in the West don't know much about this group, but Benard's book should go a long way in eliminating such ignorance. It is ironic that people need to be educated about RAWA because education is one of RAWA's principle goals. Every member is involved with education in one fashion or another - teaching, assisting, printing text books, etc. Secret literacy classes for women in Afghanistan were very dangerous under the rule of the Taliban, but also very important:

What these women are engaging in is, of course, politics - politics of the highest order. In our luxurious contemporary version of politics, you can feel a sense of civic accomplishment just by going to your local elementary school or other polling place and casting your ballot - and if that ballot was confusing, you can spend the next two months complaining about the trauma it caused you and the vast sense of disenfranchisement you are now suffering from. In situations of violent political turmoil or radical oppression, to be political means a lot more than that and is quite risky. for many Afghan women, becoming politically involved meant regaining their sense of life and direction.

Only about 7% of women in Afghanistan can read and write, compared with about 35% of men. Interestingly, RAWA doesn't just educate girls - they are also involved with classes for boys and men. RAWA believes that a better education for all is key to creating a better future for Afghanistan. The education of boys has had the added benefit of helping to train a new generation of men who are supportive of equal rights for women. They have grown up in the presence of strong women who have demonstrated their worth and dignity, thus contradicting the sorts of claims made by fundamentalists.

In addition, although RAWA membership is restricted to women, men are allowed to attend meetings and provide input. As a result, there are a lot of men in Afghanistan who take RAWA seriously - the Taliban certainly did because if women really were powerless, there would have been no need for harsh laws against their activities. Men today, however, are taking RAWA women seriously not as threats to the social order, but as real partners:

If there's a man on this planet with all his marital options open - including legal polygamy - the Afghan man is it. If he should decide that he wants an illiterate, timid, subservient wife, he can find any number of candidates. A child bride? No problem. Therefore, the fact that RAWA women - known for their independence, their profound feminism and the fact that an entire militant organization stand behind them - have no trouble whatsoever finding husbands, speaks for itself. And not just any husbands. They find husbands who aid and abet their clandestine feminist activities, who take over the housework and the child care while they are busy evacuating female refugees, who make up stories and provide cover to make sure no one will suspect that their wives are engaged in seditious independent political activities.

Oddly enough, the same respect is not given to these women by international political leaders. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Americans did not take seriously the idea that there could be a successful political resistance - so moderate political groups were ignored and only the most radical who could make the most noise and the most trouble were given any kind of attention and assistance. The results of that came home to America on September 11, 2001.

More recently, when a coalition was being created to rebuild Afghanistan after the Taliban leaders were chased out, women and progressive political forces were once again ignored. Although RAWA had established something very close to a government in exile and had for a long time been performing many of the same functions as an actual state, they were not invited to the negotiations for forming a new government.

Why? Because they didn't have guns and they didn't kill a lot of people, that's why. One would think that such considerations wouldn't play such a large role in the formation of states anymore, but they do. Despite the West's protests about being more civilized and progressive, the values of violent Afghan warlords have been accepted without a peep of protest. RAWA representation has been limited to just one person, and that has only occurred after a great deal of effort.

Although RAWA has not made much progress with governments, they have made a lot of progress with individual people - attracting sympathy and help and donations from all over the world. RAWA started as a grassroots movement and remains that to this day. Hopefully, this book will spread word of their efforts further and encourage wider support - they could certainly use it.

Right now, the status of women in Afghanistan has improved only marginally. In the future, the country's ability to progress economically and socially will depend upon the ability of its women to do the same. There is some reason for hope - Benard's book isn't simply a history of RAWA, but also of the people who are part of it. Much of the book consists of interviews with the men and women who struggle daily to advance the goals of liberty and equality and their determination shows through on every page. Although it is clear that they continue to face an uphill struggle, it is also clear that they have made a great deal of progress and are capable of continuing in the future.