n November 2012, I was given the task of reporting on women’s issues around the world and this was an important part of my job description. My work has taken me around the globe, looking at human right’s violations and countries where the position of women is compromised in some way. However, a personal interest of mine (as a woman of Afghan heritage) is the position of women in Afghanistan, especially pertaining to the rule of the Taliban. In 1989, as a young teenager, I read Marie Claire’s ground breaking article entitled “My Escape from the Taliban”. This followed, in diary form, the story of a young woman who escaped from Kabul and found safety in Pakistan. The subsequent report that I have written for this month’s copy of Marie Claire
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One of the most controversial changes was the legalisation of rape within marriage as well giving Shia men the right to deny their wife food should they refuse to 'give in' to his sexual demands - this is yet another clear indication of the oppression that Afghan women suffer in their day to day lives. Many people may argue that these women should simply leave their marriages, but if the risk of being left alone and destitute wasn't enough, Sharia law also states that a woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's. In simple terms, this means that in Afghan divorce cases parental custody will almost always be awarded to the father or grandfather; Afghan women are therefore further entrapped through fear of losing their children.
The plight of Afghan women has been explored on a number of different platforms, not least in the reams of literature that has appeared during the ongoing struggle. One of the most well-known novels based on the subject is “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, which delves deeply into the darkest areas of women’s lives in Afghanistan. However, whilst these stories often have a happy ending, the sad fact for many Afghan women is that the nightmare of their reality is
One of the most controversial changes was the legalisation of rape within marriage as well giving Shia men the right to deny their wife food should they refuse to 'give in' to his sexual demands - this is yet another clear indication of the oppression that Afghan women suffer in their day to day lives. Many people may argue that these women should simply leave their marriages, but if the risk of being left alone and destitute wasn't enough, Sharia law also states that a woman's testimony is worth half that of a man's. In simple terms, this means that in Afghan divorce cases parental custody will almost always be awarded to the father or grandfather; Afghan women are therefore further entrapped through fear of losing their children.
The plight of Afghan women has been explored on a number of different platforms, not least in the reams of literature that has appeared during the ongoing struggle. One of the most well-known novels based on the subject is “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, which delves deeply into the darkest areas of women’s lives in Afghanistan. However, whilst these stories often have a happy ending, the sad fact for many Afghan women is that the nightmare of their reality is