Women's Studies

1. Women in Afghanistan
By Erica
WS420 Introduction

2. Snippets about me
• Currently a Senior at MSUM working towards a degree in Computer
Information Technology
• Obtained AS degree in Information Technology from MSCTC
• My spouse and I are Navy veterans
• Lived in Virginia Beach for 10 years
• Moved to FM area in 2011
• One child
• 2 dogs

3. Challenges for Women
• 85% of women have no formal education and are illiterate
• 1 out of 10 children die before age 5
• Female life expectancy is 51
• Some girls are bartered into marriage to pay off debt
 50% of girls are married or engaged by 12
• 1.5 million female widows in Afghanistan
 Average age is 35

4. Life prior to Taliban
• Afghan women were eligible to vote in 1919
• Purdah (gender separation) was abolished in the 1950s
• 1960s brought equality and political participation

5. Life during Taliban(1996-2001)
• Girls were banned from school and/or studying
• Banned from working
• Banned from leaving the house without a male relative
• Banned from showing skin in public (burqa worn)
• Banned from public speaking
• Ground floor windows were covered so women could not be seen from
outside the home

6. Life after Taliban
• Schools allow girls to attend
 1.5 million school-age girls are still not enrolled
• Women allowed to work
 Only if permitted by male relatives
• Child marriage is more difficult
 Age increased from 16 to 17
• Self-immolation (setting oneself on fire) has decreased to 70 cases per
year, down from 350

7. Violence Increasing
• 25% surge in 2013 of brutality since troop
departure
• Mass Rape
• Public Raping
• Cutting noses, ears, and lips
• Record number of women set themselves on fire
in 2012

8. Works Cited
• DONATI, JESSICA. Violence against Afghan women more frequent,
brutal in 2013 - official. 4 January 2014.
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/01/04/uk-afghanistan-women-idUKBREA0307Q20140104>.
• Life as an Afghan woman. 28 August 2014.
<http://www.trustineducation.org/resources/life-as-an-afghan-woman/>.
• Women in Afghanistan. 25 October 2013.
<http://www.amnesty.org.uk/womens-rights-afghanistan-history#.
U__QC_ldWSo>.