NEWS & LETTERS, October - November 2008
Women in Afghanistan
Editor's note: Elsie De Laere, a volunteer teacher for small Afghan and American-based NGO's, recently returned from her seventh visit to Afghanistan. Below are some of her comments given to an Amnesty International meeting in San Francisco.
After 9/11 the U.S. government used the situation of women in Afghanistan as propaganda. They didn't really care about women's rights. Although there are many organizations currently in Afghanistan, the situation is by and large appalling.
We can't push western values on them. For example: some western teachers come to teach in Afghanistan in shorts, or mini-skirts, which makes mothers forbid their daughters to come to school.
The despair of Afghan women is shown by the prevalence of self-immolation. One woman said that this was the only way she could shame her family. Nothing else was dramatic enough to make the point of how insufferable her situation was. There has been an incredible increase of suicides by Afghan women returning from Iran.
Education of the next generation is the acknowledged way to improve the situation. There are entire provinces where daughters are kept from school because it's not "proper" for a girl to be taught by a man.
Only 14% of girls age 15-24 are literate (compared to 51% of boys). One cause is early marriage. Also, violence against schools for girls is increasing, with nearly 150 Afghan students and teachers killed and around 100 schools burnt down by militants between March 2007 and March 2008.
I despair at what humans do to each other, but then again, I see all around me great strength that gives me hope and courage. My mother was a great role model and I drew strength from her as I found my passion for women's rights and human rights in general.
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