Afghanistan’s Women: Safe Enough to Thrive
Afghanistan’s Women: Safe Enough to Thrive
At a White House press conference in March, U.S. President Barack Obama, standing beside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, announced that he would delay the schedule for U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Rather than bringing 4,300 troops back home by the end of this year—nearly half the force currently stationed in Afghanistan—troop levels will remain steady through 2015.
The extension had been requested by President Ghani to allow Afghanistan’s economy and civil society more time to grow and develop, let alone enabling the Afghan military to build up its capacity. According to public opinion polls, the extension is supported by nearly half of Afghans. And it’s especially good news for Afghan women and girls.
Since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, women and girls have made huge gains in Afghanistan—gains that could be lost if the security situation in the country should worsen with the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Roughly 900,000 Afghan boys were enrolled in public school in 2002 and virtually no girls. But currently, more than 3 million girls are enrolled in school, while young women comprise almost 20 percent of college students. Women’s literacy has increased to nearly 15 percent nationwide—compared to only 5 percent in 2002. Among girls 15 to 24, it’s twice as high. Plus, support for girls’ and young women’s equal access to education is high: A 2013 poll by the Asia Foundation found that more than 83 percent of Afghans agree that women should have equal access to education as men.
Afghan women have also stepped up their political participation. Women’s turnout for the first round of the most recent presidential election, in April 2014, was estimated at 36 percent—despite numerous death threats from the Taliban directed at potential voters. (The overall turnout of 58 percent was about the same as the last U.S. presidential election.) Despite killings and even more threats, the June runoff turnout rose to 38 percent.
Also, more women candidates than ever (around 300) ran for provincial council seats despite threats of violence. Three women ran for vice president, while each of the three leading presidential contenders (all men) declared their intention to support causes important to women. One of the leading candidates had a female running mate, and President Ghani’s wife, Rula, addressed crowds on the campaign trail. These are all major milestones for a country in which women’s involvement in politics has been historically minimal.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/05/12/afghanistans-women-safe-enough-to-thrive/