Kabul Governor, Women's Activists Talk Challenges for Afghan Women

At a gathering organized by the Afghan Women’s Network in Kabul on Monday, Kabul Governor Abdul Jabbar Taqwa and women’s activists highlighted the many injustices still faced by Afghan women and the deficiencies in services provided for them.

“Women are deprived of many things in our society…the educated and literate believe in women rights, but there are many people who don’t believe in women’s rights and dignity, and treat them like they did in the past – they consider women as a commodity,” said Governor Taqwa at the meeting entitled “Lawsuits & Access to Justice.”

Although the quality of life for most Afghan women is said to have dramatically improved since the days of the Taliban regime, many officials and activists alike emphasize the amount of progress still needed before Afghan women can live prosperous lives.

One of the primary concerns of many women’s advocates in Afghanistan is the pervasive lack of access to services critical to their health and happiness. With rates of violence against women in Afghanistan increasing this year, according to reports from the United Nations and Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), this lack of access only becomes more pressing.

“Although Afghan women have built some awareness about their human rights, they still don’t have access to basic social and health services and face domestic violence,” Maryam, a member of the Afghan Women’s Network Lawsuit & Access to Justice Committee.

“Women still cope with family violence…and they are tortured and intimidated by their family members,” a Committee member from Balkh province named Sara said. “They are deprived from learning and education and its very concerning.”

Those who are looking to improve the plight of Afghan women often highlight the fact that on the local level, particularly in the more remote areas of the country, progress going on in the cities simply doesn’t reach.

“The nonexistence of women in the legal and judicial organs on the district level is very concerning,” said another Committee member named Zainab. “When a woman faces a problem of violence, there should be a woman in the legal and judicial organ on the district level to help her.”

The improvements to Afghan women’s lives that have taken shape since the fall of the Taliban, but also the progress still left to be made, are a major force behind election officials and civil society groups pushing women to register to vote and cast ballots in the April Presidential and Provincial Council elections.

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Kabul Governor, Women’s Activists Talk Challenges for Afghan Women