Afghan women’s rights ‘at risk’ 10 years on – NGOs

Women’s rights in Afghanistan risk being forgotten as international troops withdraw and the government struggles for a peace deal 10 years after the Taliban were ousted, according to Oxfam and ActionAid.

Separate reports by the two organisations say women’s rights have improved since the October 2001 US-led invasion, particularly access to education, with 2.7 million girls now in school, according to Oxfam.

But they warned of an “uncertain future” and “huge challenges” ahead, citing increasing violence against women and fears that any future peace deal with the Taliban could lead to gains being sacrificed.

“Women in Afghanistan have achieved real progress in areas such as political participation, the rule of law, and education since 2001 but these hard-won gains remain fragile,” Oxfam’s report said.

“With the imminent withdrawal of international forces, there is a risk that the government may sacrifice women’s rights in order to secure a political deal with the Taliban and other armed opposition groups.”

ActionAid said its survey of 1,000 Afghan women found that 72 per cent believe their lives are now better than a decade ago, 86 per cent worry about the Taliban returning to power and 37 per cent say the country will be a worse place if foreign troops leave.

All 140,000 international combat forces are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, handing control of security to Afghan forces.

President Hamid Karzai is currently reviewing his strategy of trying to talk peace with the Taliban after the assassination of his peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which experts say has dealt a heavy blow to hopes of reconciliation.

The US and other countries made restoring women’s rights a key priority in Afghanistan after the October 7, 2001 invasion which ousted the Taliban in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Under the militant Islamist regime, women had little access to education, were banned from working outside the home, forced to wear burqas and had to be escorted by a male relative whenever they left their houses.

Major gains have been made in the last decade, Oxfam and ActionAid said.

Some 42 per cent of primary school age girls are enrolled in school and Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of parliamentary female representation at 28 percent, albeit thanks to a quota system.

However, Oxfam warned such improvements were under threat as “women are increasingly caught between a spreading insurgency, a government that is willing to sacrifice women’s rights and an international community focused on rapidly reducing its military presence in Afghanistan”.

It highlighted disturbing levels of violence against women and said that a key law criminalising practices such as honour killings and child marriage was only being implemented in 10 out of 34 Afghan provinces.

Some 87 per cent of Afghan women say they have suffered “physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage”, Oxfam said, while self-immolation still happens.

The Taliban also continue to attack girls’ schools and limit the movements of women in areas which they control, its report added.

It accused Mr Karzai’s fragile government of a “willingness to sacrifice women’s rights for political ends” in order to gain the support of hardliners and bolster its own position.

ActionAid, meanwhile, said women’s rights groups were being “kept in the dark” about negotiations with insurgents.

It called women’s rights a “non-negotiable part of any political settlement” and urged all parties involved “to make public statements of their commitment to equal rights for men and women – including women’s right to education, to work and to participate in public life”.