Afghanistan: The return of Taliban style oppression of women

[cali]

One of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main religious advisers will not overturn a decree issued by clerics in the north reimposing Taliban-style curbs on women, in another sign of returning conservatism as NATO forces leave the country.

Just days after the United States launched a $200 million program to boost the role of women in Afghanistan, a senior member of the country's top religious leaders' panel said he would not intervene over a draconian edict issued by clerics in the Deh Salah region of Baghlan province.


Deh Salah, near Panshir, was a bastion of anti-Taliban sentiment prior to the ousting of the austere Islamist government by the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance in 2001.

But the eight article decree, issued late in June, bars women from leaving home without a male relative, while shutting cosmetic shops on the pretext they were being used for prostitution - an accusation residents and police reject.

<snip>

Afghanistan has one of the world's highest infant mortality rates and more than a decade after the U.S.-backed toppling of the Taliban, it still ranks as one of the worst nations to be born a girl.

<snip>

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/20/us-afghanistan-edict-idUSBRE96J02220130720

Now for all the crap about how women are so much better off thanks to the U.S. invasion and occupation.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. "Return"? I didn't know they ever left.

[ananda]

3. Me either.

This is a result of a series of attempted occupations which left a power
vacuum among moderate men, making it possible for the extremists
to move in and take over.

[hobbit709]

4. Beat me to it.

[Live and Learn]

2. Was there ever a doubt that this would be the result? nt

[MrSlayer]

5. Throwing good money after bad.

What a waste. All of it. It's just sick and sad that we've squandered all that money on nothing. We could have done so much here at home instead.

You can't change those primitive idiots and you can't save the world. They have to evolve at their own pace. We should be looking out for our own. It's infuriating.

[DCBob]

6. Not really..

Survey Shows Significant Improvement in Maternal and Child Health; Challenges Remain

Kabul, November 30, 2011

Many more Afghan women are receiving skilled care today during pregnancy and delivery than a decade ago, and more women and children are surviving today than ever before as a result of greater access to health facilities and better care according to the Afghanistan Mortality Survey (AMS) 2010. Despite the challenging situation implementing this survey, the AMS 2010, released today, represents some 87 percent of the population and provides needed data on the current state of healthcare in Afghanistan, confirming the remarkable achievements made in the health sector over the past decade.

"The AMS 2010 is the most comprehensive national survey carried out in Afghanistan to assess mortality levels and their causes to date," said Dr. Suraya Dalil, Acting Minister of Public Health. According to the AMS 2010, 60 percent of Afghan women are now receiving antenatal care from a skilled provider and over one-third are giving birth with assistance from a skilled birth attendant. The AMS 2010 also confirms that investments in infrastructure, education and health in the past decade have paid off. According to the AMS, fewer women are dying from pregnancy-related causes than they did seven years ago, and adult mortality has also declined.

more: http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/documents/document/Document/2132/20111130_Press_Release_AMS_English

[enlightenment]

7. That was two years ago.

It is almost a guarantee that the situation for women will worsen.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/22/dark-future-womens-rights-afghanistan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/19/afghanistan-women-rights-taliban-peace-talks

The US, meanwhile, is planning on spending a lot of money helping Afghani women improve their skills - but that training will go no where as long as the religious fundamentalists are denying women their basic human rights. So, while it's a nice idea, it isn't a realistic program given the circumstances that currently exist in the country.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/us-usa-afghanistan-women-idUSBRE96H07G20130718

[kenny blankenship]

10. Also USAID is a well known CIA front org. Expect its reports to be propaganda

along the lines of "US military occupation is achieving great things here. Let's keep it up!"

[DCBob]

13. USAID was created by JFK and has done great work helping poor nations across the world...

during the past 50 years. It is a shame and ignorant to dismiss their work because some spies in the past have used their name as a cover. They did the same to the Peace Corps and that practice has been strictly forbidden for decades.

[DCBob]

14. It will worsen if the Taliban take over and we stop all development work there.

I think the plan is for development work to continue even after the US military leaves with security provided by local Afghanistan forces or by private security firms. It remains to be seen if that will actually work out.

[Zorra]

8. Countries that are friendly to women should offer easy, blanket asylum to the women

of Afghanistan.

[Lee-Lee]

9. When I was there

You only saw the face of a post-pubescent woman in Kabul proper.

Even there, it was the exception.

Granted I didn't do more than a few dozen convoys, but whenever we saw women they were always full on burqa. Even working hard doing manual labor in the sun, full burqa.

On the few occasions I got to interact or even be seen by them, I hope I served as an example that women could be more than their society told them.

[Vattel]

11. Our leaving will have bad consequences for many,

but we cannot stay there indefinitely. We should recognize that our resources are almost always much better spent on humanitarian aid rather than war.

[The Straight Story]

12. It's almost as bad as here in the US

Where the true horrors of sexist hate exist (we had a whole day dedicated to shaming women by complimenting them the other day). Maybe someday the taliban will liberate us and women will wear burkas so we cannot see them and think they are pretty (and then, gasp, tell them they are pretty).

Some sarcasm in there.