The social history of women and gender in Afghanistan

Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in World History Archives and does not presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to release their copyright.

Repression and RAWA
By Meena Nanji, Green Left Weekly, 24 January 2001. RAWA, founded in 1977 by Meena Keshwar Kamal, is a heroic Afghan women's right group. It has positively affected the lives of hundreds of women and their families, and provides one of the only rays of hope in an otherwise bleak situation.
Perspective on Women's Plight in Afghanistan
By Hassan Hathout, 12 December 1996. Upon the triumphant conquest of Kabul, the Afghan Tailban ordered women out of school and out of their jobs as a fulfillment of the teachings of Islam. American Muslims feel it is their duty to defend the religion and its reputation, now tarnished by ill-advised Muslims. The Taliban and women's education. The Prophet and gender equality.
Taliban Makes Concessions to Afghan Women
By Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 10 May 1999. The Taliban, the conservative Muslim militia that rules most of Afghanistan, is starting to address the issue of the shutting off of educational opportunities for girls and women.
West's feminists under fire from female general
By Stephen Farrell, The Times of London, 28 November 2001. General Suhaila Siddiq, 60, sighs with exasperation at Western feminists and their obsession with the burka. The first priority should be given to education, the economy and reconstruction of the country but the West concentrates on the burka and whether the policies of the Taliban are better or worse than other regimes.
Is the US fighting for women's liberation?
By Elizabeth Schulte, Socialist Worker, 7 December 2001. The lie that Afghans have been liberated by the U.S. government's brutal new Northern Alliance allies. The Alliance feels the same way about women as the Taliban did—they are chattel. The warlords of the Northern Alliance have a miserable record of human rights abuses, especially against women.