Afghan women face 'daily danger'

[Saint Marcus]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3166566.stm

Afghan women face 'daily danger'

By Crispin Thorold
BBC, Kabul


The plight of Afghan women has improved little since the fall of the Taleban, according to the human rights organisation Amnesty International.
There have been big changes for some women since the fall of the fundamentalist Taleban regime nearly two years ago - thousands of girls are now attending school and many women have returned to work.

But according to Amnesty International, most women are not being protected.


A draft constitution is expected to enshrine equal rights for both sexes
It says the risk of rape is very high, and girls as young as eight are being forced into marriage.

Women are not protected by the criminal justice system, the report says.

During the war against the Taleban, world leaders said the conflict would liberate Afghanistan's women, yet many today are as oppressed as ever.

Amnesty International's report comes days before the release of a draft constitution which activists hope will transform the way women are treated in this devoutly Islamic state.

But even if new laws are ratified by the mainly male constitutional loya jirga that will consider the document, there is some doubt the measures will be enforced.

Much of Afghanistan is lawless and President Hamid Karzai's administration has little control outside the capital, Kabul.

[Q Classic]

quiet you. it's just media spin to make bush look bad. conditions in afghanistan are better than ever before.

[MrFun]

Interesting story . . .

but of course, the Bushphiles will just say that all this information is part of some vast left-wing conspiracy.

[Q Classic]

hush, you left-wing commie. do you want to get thrown from a helicopter?

[Tiberius]

Those who thought that the afghan society would change over night are rather naive ...

The same is true for Iraq. It takes a long-long time to change people's mentality.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Tiberius
It takes a long-long time to change people's mentality.

Yep, and some, like Saint Marcus, are just hopeless.

[chequita guevara]

Re: Afghan women face 'daily danger'

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
A draft constitution is expected to enshrine equal rights for both sexes.

Do they learn nothing from history? This is exactly what started the uprising that brought in the Soviets twenty-four years ago.

[Dinner]

Che & Tiberius are right. The mistreatment and abuse of women is enshrined in the Afghan culture and it will take generations of reeducation to eliminate this barbarism.

[Saint Marcus]

Those who thought that the afghan society would change over night are rather naive ...

Not over night.

But it's been 2 years and billions upon billions of dollars later. We should be seeing some results by now, shouldn't we?

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


Not over night.

But it's been 2 years and billions upon billions of dollars later. We should be seeing some results by now, shouldn't we?

The thing is most of those efforts have been directed at fighting the terrorist still there. Also I lot of the money has been used to rebuild the country. Just throwing money at the problem does not make it better. This has more to do with people's minds, and you have to changet attitudes to make things better. No amount of money can change minds.

[Ramo]

We haven't been trying to change minds. We've been helping to prop up the rule of often-Islamist warlords.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Re: Afghan women face 'daily danger'

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Do they learn nothing from history? This is exactly what started the uprising that brought in the Soviets twenty-four years ago.

thats the standard line from the apologists for the communist regime in afghanistan - the rebellion was NOT a nationalist rising, not a result of general disatisfaction with the communists, but was "a group of farmers who didnt want their daughters educated"

Well, guevera, even those who claim the above suggest the rebellion of the benighted farmers wouldnt have gotten anywhere without US support. Since there is no equivalent source of such support, the situation today is likely to be different. In fact there has been growth in education of Afghan women, and even female participation in the cabinet - and yet no rebellion outside of the Pashtun southeast.

This seems like an attempt to enlist half of the country (IE the females) in support of the new order - most who will oppose it are ALREADY opposed. Seems like a good idea to me.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


Not over night.

But it's been 2 years and billions upon billions of dollars later. We should be seeing some results by now, shouldn't we?

Building stability in Paktia province

[chequita guevara]

Re: Re: Re: Afghan women face 'daily danger'

Originally posted by lord of the mark
thats the standard line from the apologists for the communist regime in afghanistan - the rebellion was NOT a nationalist rising, not a result of general disatisfaction with the communists, but was "a group of farmers who didnt want their daughters educated"

It's also historically the case. However, my post was meant to be ironic. It took them 25 years of bloodshed to get back to the point where they were in 1979.

Maybe they can have roads and hospitals and schools again soon? So much death and pain and misery to get someplace they've already been.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Afghan women face 'daily danger'

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


It's also historically the case. However, my post was meant to be ironic. It took them 25 years of bloodshed to get back to the point where they were in 1979.

Maybe they can have roads and hospitals and schools again soon? So much death and pain and misery to get someplace they've already been.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to discuss the situation in Afghanistan in 1979 now. I am keeping to the topic of this thread, which is prospects for Afghanistan now.

Here is more on Afghanistan today.

Reconstruction and change in Kabul