Afghan Women's Fragile Gains Face Threat
Female participation in recent election reached all-time high, but hard-won gains could easily be reversed.
Afghan Women's Fragile Gains Face Threat
Female participation in recent election reached all-time high, but hard-won gains could easily be reversed.
Daniella Peled
IWPR editor
Afghanistan’s parliamentary election was accompanied by claims of rampant fraud, but that wasn’t its only failing. The ballot may also have given the outside world a false impression of progress on women’s rights.
A record number of women ran in the September 18 election – there were 385 female candidates, 57 more than in the 2005 polls, among the 2,446 vying for 249 seats in parliament,
But while more Afghan women may be participating in the political process, events may be conspiring to return them to subjugation.
Although women’s rights were near the top of the agenda when the international community established a new government following the fall of the Taleban regime nine years ago, that is no longer the case. A number of opinion writers and experts outside the country are now arguing that the foreign troop presence in Afghanistan is not there to promote the rights of women, nor should it be.
For Afghan women, though, the establishment of a female presence in the political arena has been a major achievement and could contribute long-term to maintaining peace.
Some analysts now fear that past and future progress could by stymied by the willingness of President Hamid Karzai and his international partners to enter into talks with the Taleban.
“We are extremely worried about the political will in Afghanistan because of the moves towards reconciliation,” Esther Hyneman, board member of Women for Afghan Women, said. “This is going to come at the expense of women’s rights. For the first time we are really worried that all the work we have done will just disintegrate.”
The situation in Afghanistan remains perilous enough for female political activists. Like most women active in the public sphere, they routinely face threats which in some cases translate into violence.
Throughout the election campaign, female candidates’ posters were systematically defaced, their images scribbled over or their eyes torn out of the picture. Many were unable to campaign on the ground because of security risks which included frequent death threats. Most recently, five male campaign workers working for female candidate Fauzia Gilani were killed in Herat province in August.
Nonetheless, the level of female political activism remains an astonishing accomplishment in a country where just a decade ago, women and girls were banned from working or even attending school.
“Political participation is the biggest achievement,” Afghan activist Wazhma Frogh said. “Not only do we see women in parliament, but it has been created by a grassroots process. This has created a momentum. Even when candidates fail, they are creating a name for women in villages where previously women weren’t able to say a word and are now campaigning.”
Frogh warns that these achievements are threatened by the Afghan government’s attempt to court religious conservative forces in a bid to shore up its power.
“Karzai sees women as being part of the process, but he has sold them out pretty swiftly in the past when it was convenient for him,” said a prominent international activist, who did not want to be named. “Women have little confidence in him as a defender of their rights.”
A prime example, she added, was the controversial 2009 Shia Personal Status Law, which amongst other measures restricted the rights of women from Afghanistan’s Shia Muslim minority to have child custody and freedom of movement.
While Karzai was forced to tone down the law following a global outcry, including condemnation from United States president Barack Obama, fears remain that the international community is going to prioritise its exit from Afghanistan over protecting women’s rights, once the clarion call for intervention. Despite the high prominence the international community once gave to advancing the cause of women – and repeated pledges from the Afghan government – the focus of attention has been continuously narrowing down to the twin issues of counter-insurgency and reconciliation.
It remains unclear just what the Taleban would demand in exchange for a peace settlement. While their opposition to female education may have softened, they are likely to remain implacably opposed to wider female participation in public life.
One particular concern is that Karzai could secure a deal with the insurgents by agreeing to given Islamic law a more central role in the Afghan constitution. This would not bode well for Afghan women.
The outcry over the Shia law demonstrated how much influence the international community can exert to help Afghan women. Now the challenge is to ensure that promoting a speedy withdrawal and reconciliation talks does not come at the expense of women’s rights.
While the increasing number of women in the latest election may look like cause for celebration, the situation on the ground indicates that women’s rights cannot be won solely via the ballot box.
Daniella Peled is an IWPR editor in London.
