NYC-Feature Story-World Trade Center

NYC-2000-03-11
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, women have suffered special discrimination. They live under virtual house arrest, must wear garments that completely cover them, and cannot attend school after age 8.

Under Wraps

By Sahara Walsh

What would you do if you woke up one day to find that the world around you had been turned upside-down and inside-out? If everything you had taken for granted about your life had changed almost overnight? If all your rights had been taken away and you were completely powerless to do anything?

That's what's happened to women in Afghanistan since the Taliban, an extreme fundamentalist Islamic group, took control of the country in the mid-1990s.

At the time, a civil war was going on, and life in Afghanistan was violent and chaotic. When the Taliban took over, they promised to restore peace and order to the land. But one of the main things they've done is institute a code of laws that oppresses and brutalizes women.

I'm going to take you on a guided tour of an Afghan woman's life:

You've just woken up and want to see what kind of day it is outside. Good luck.

Houses that are occupied by women have had their windows painted over. This is, on the one hand, to prevent the women from being seen by onlookers, and on the other, to keep them practically jailed in their own homes, with no freedom to even see the light of day.

Covered from Head to Toe

Ready to get dressed? You can forget your favorite pair of jeans; you're not allowed to wear them anymore. In fact, forget about your whole wardrobe. From now on, when you go outside, you're only allowed to wear something called a burqa. It's a heavy, shroud-like garment that covers your whole body, head to toe. Every woman and girl has to wear one here. But don't complain, at least it has a three inch mesh-covered opening that you can see through, provided your eyesight is good enough.

For some women, the burqa is a health hazard-one Afghan woman told Physicians for Human Rights that "walking with the burqa is difficult…You can't see well and there is a risk of falling or getting hit by a car."

It can even be difficult to breathe while wearing one. Freshta Karimi, an Afghan refugee who now lives in the U.S., told the New York Post that her mother had an asthma attack one day and when she pulled her burqa off her face so she could breathe, she was whipped by a Taliban member.

This isn't uncommon-if a woman gets caught wearing something other than the burqa, or even showing her ankles, she can be arrested, tortured, or maybe even killed, depending on how the soldier who catches her feels.

The Associated Press reported that not long ago, a women holding her two small children and a number of bags was beaten with a car antenna for letting the material covering her face slip an inch.

Can you imagine walking with your mother somewhere, and having her beaten right in front of you by a guard while everyone watched? You wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and if you did do anything, you'd be beaten also.

Now that you've put on your burqa, you're ready to leave the house, but wait. You're only allowed to walk outside with your father, brother, or another male relative.

If questioned by a Taliban soldier about why you are out of of the house, you must give him a reason that he thinks is acceptable. Otherwise, he can beat you and whoever you're with.

No School, No Jobs, No Boyfriends

This may sound harsh, but you don't have a lot of places to go.

Don't like school? Don't worry, from now on you don't have to go…In fact, you can't go. The Taliban banned education for females older than 8. Younger girls are only allowed to study the Muslim religion and the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

And you don't really need an education, because the Taliban also forbids women to work outside the home.

You can't have a boyfriend either-if you're caught seeing each other, there is a good chance that you both would be severely beaten or even killed. And pray that you don't get raped-if someone finds out, you could end up in prison for committing "adultery."

You Can't Go Anywhere Without a Male Relative

And you can forget about getting sick here. If there is no man in the house to take you to the doctor, you can't go. If you find a hospital that treats women (there aren't many), you still might not get the care you need.

Women can't be examined closely by male physicians (who aren't allowed to touch them or look at their naked bodies), and most female physicians aren't being allowed to work.

Making matters even worse is the fact that all the years of fighting have left many women without male relatives to support them financially or serve as chaperones. This makes it hard for many women to do basic things like go to the doctor or go shopping.

It Wasn't Always This Way

Are you wondering how this could be happening in the year 2000? So was I.

Things haven't always been this way in Afghanistan. Before the Taliban took over, women, particularly in urban areas, were free to study, work and have a life, just like men.

According to the NOW Foundation, before 1994, Afghan women were 40% of the doctors and 50% of the civilian government workforce. Women were 60% of the teachers at Kabul University and 50% of the students attending that institution.

After the Taliban take-over, all of these women became unemployed, and subsequently, some were forced to take to the streets to beg for food or money to support their families.

Is This God's Law?

Why are women being targeted now? The Taliban leaders claim they are only doing "God's work" by enforcing traditional Islamic law. They say they are doing it for women's sake, to protect their "purity" and "dignity."

But the laws they are enforcing are a throwback to the Middle Ages. The Islamic religion encourages men to protect and love their women to the best of their abilities, not to abuse and mistreat women.

Women still face degrees of discrimination and repression all over the world but, as the organization Physicians for Human Rights states in a report called The Taliban's War on Women: "To our knowledge, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half of its population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of physical punishment from showing their faces, seeking medical care without a male escort, or attending school."

The Taliban is not only smothering the women of Afghanistan, but also the children that lay in their arms. Many women and children are suffering and even dying from treatable diseases in Afghanistan, because it has been made so difficult for them to receive health care.

Pressure to Change

You might be in disbelief that things this horrific can actually be going on. You might be thinking, "Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?" Well, there are people who are trying to help, and you can help too.

The U.S. and many other countries have imposed economic and political sanctions against Afghanistan to punish the Taliban for its human rights violations and for supporting terrorism abroad.

The United Nations and various international relief organizations have been using humanitarian aid programs to push the Taliban into easing some of its restrictions against women, like only opening schools or clinics if women will be allowed to use them or helping to create jobs only if women will be allowed to work.

So far, the repressive laws have not been changed, but a few exceptions have been made here and there.

I Can Go Anywhere, Be Anything

I chose to write about this issue because I feel that not enough people know about it. When I really started researching, and reading a lot about the Taliban, I cried. I was so touched and heartbroken by what the women of Afghanistan have had to endure.

I live a life where I can go anywhere I choose, be anything I want. Yet there are girls my age who cannot step outside their own houses without fear of getting brutalized. I feel it's my duty to be a voice for those who have been silenced.

What You Can Do

If hearing about what's happening in Afghanistan upsets you like it did me, and you want to do something about it, you can contact the White House to urge the President to do everything in his power to end the Taliban's repressive regime and help Afghan women refugees. The phone number is (202) 456-1111. The fax number is (202) 456-2461 or you can e-mail the President at President@whitehouse.gov.

To find out about other ways to support the women of Afghanistan, check these websites of organizations that are working on their behalf:

The Feminist Majority Foundation: www.feminist.org

The NOW Foundation: www.nowfoundation.org

Physicians for Human Rights: www.phrusa.org

"Think About It":
Prompts for discussion and/or writing:

—What is your reaction to the way the Taliban rulers treat Afghani women? What bothers you the most about the way women are treated?

—Religion can be a wonderful guiding force in people's lives, but when, in your opinion, does it become too controlling of people's lives? How do you draw the line between a religious belief that is reasonable and one that is extreme?

—To try to understand how the people of Afghanistan see us, write a short article, similar to Sahara's, that describes the U.S. from their point of view. What, for example, may they dislike about the way women are treated in this country?

—After reading this article, do you have a different view of the freedoms people enjoy in the U.S.? If so, how? If not, why not?

—At the end of her article, Sahara urges people to take action to try to change the way women are treated in Afghanistan. Is it our business how the people in another country are treated by their government? Why or why not?