War and Women's Voices (original) (raw)
Related papers
Woman, War, and the Politics of Emancipation in Afghanistan
LSE Policy Review, 2022
During the twenty years of war in Afghanistan much attention was focussed on the issue of female human rights. The emancipation of women from the rule and legacies of the Taliban was a core objective of Western states. This article traces the resistance within communities and regions to these liberal endeavours and highlights the challenges of imposing rather than embedding values. We note that the Afghan state has always struggled to provide basic human rights for its population, especially for its women. Until those needs are addressed, full emancipation through education and representation of women in society is unlikely. As a case study the country provides an understanding of feminism from a female Afghan perspective as well as an opportunity to explore the human rights context for women generally. Hence, we explain how this war allowed females in Western military forces to operate with greater gender equality on the frontline. Further research has the potential to reveal useful lessons in how female emancipation may be facilitated through an improved understanding of cultural contexts and an appreciation of how basic human rights such as the right to life and security are a prerequisite for female emancipation.
At Home or in the Grave Afghan Women and the Reproduction of Patriarchy
Rubina Saigol, 'At Home or in the Grave: Afghan Women and the Reproduction of Patriarchy'. Working Paper Series # 70. Sustainable Development Policy Institute. , 2002
This paper focuses on the relationship of Afghan, mainly Pashtoon, women with the protracted war in Afghanistan. The paper is divided into four sections, namely 1) Absence of the State, Conflict and Identity Formation, 2) The Reproduction of Patriarchy, 3) Cultural Sensitivity, Aid Programs and the Reproduction of Patriarchy, and 4) Afghan Women’s Resistance to Violence and Patriarchy. Section 1 examines the effects of statelessness upon women in terms of the way in which the absence of a legitimate central authority, including judicial and administrative systems, affects the lives of women and the population in general. This section contextualizes the Afghan war and explores the complex relation between conflict and the formation of identity. Section 2 examines the ways in which the prolonged conflict has intensified patriarchal practices by means of increased restrictions, veiling, domestic violence, rape and murder of women. An attempt has been made to shed some light on the way in which conflicts tend to reinforce and strengthen patriarchies. Section 3 examines the discourse produced by aid agencies and international assistance in the 1980s and 1990s, with a view toward exploring how aid and assistance practices can themselves become the means of disempowering women and reproducing male systems of power. Section 4 is based on the recognition that Afghan women have not remained silent and passive observers of the conflict, but have actively offered resistance in various forms. Some of the forms discussed include cultural forms of resistance as expressed in poetry and song, individual resistance to violence against women, and collective resistance by organizations such as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. An attempt is made to demonstrate that Afghan women have been active interlocutors in the ethnic and sectarian struggles, especially by being the most vociferous champions of peace, democracy and justice. Published/Presented as: ‘At Home or in the Grave: Afghan Women and the Reproduction of Patriarchy'. Working Paper Series # 70. 2002. Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
Our Heritage, 2020
Afghanistan is a land where most women are battered at every step of their life physically, psychologically and emotionally. In familial, social or political aspects, men consider themselves as superior and impose highly unreasonable rules and regulations within and outside the family on women and try their best to disempower them in the patriarchal society of Afghanistan. A few women break these shackles and try to empower themselves and also include many women in their journey. The present paper explores the multifarious ways in which the harsh societal rules limit and demoralize women from leading a life of their choice and also the diverse strategies used by women to combat them in Afghanistan with reference to 'We are Afghan Women-Voices of Hope' and Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. The study proposes to explore the desperate efforts of women to ensure their voices are heard and prove their predominant role in the process of reconstruction of the devastated country.
مجلة البحث العلمی فی الآداب
Western media had stereotyped Afghan women as creatures who face discrimination and marginalization from men and fundamentalist societies. In Zoya's Zoya's Story (2002) and Latifa's My Forbidden Face (2001), the two female authors speak about the terrible conditions of women in so-called democratic Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. Ethnoautobiographies of Afghan women, in general, demonstrate a new understanding of life under oppression and how they strive to maintain their autonomy in the face of repression and subjugation. The texts understudy show that Afghan women are neither submissive nor passive figures but had tried to retain their autonomy under the rule of the Taliban. This research is framed by administering an approach that combines Michel Foucault's theory of Power/ Knowledge and Stuart Hall's theory of Representation / Stereotyping and directing a critical analysis of two ethnoautobiographies of two Afghan women activists who challenge their passive stereotyped images set by Western societies to justify the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. This paper argues that Afghan women attempted to maintain their autonomy and fight for their rights before the rest of the world rushed to free them. Afghan women resisted suppression in several ways, but Zoya and Latifa participated in non-violent resistance against the Taliban regime.
Not Just at Home or In The Grave: (Mis)Understanding Women's Rights in Afghanistan
Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2021
This article presents an original dataset collected in predominantly rural, Eastern Afghanistan, which finds that girls' access to education and women's professional and economic opportunities are key to understanding the experience of peace. In other words, many Afghan men and women in the areas studied not only want to see girls go to school and women sell goods at the market or treat patients in the hospital, but believe this to be fundamental to their understanding of peace in their communities. We seek to investigate this relationship, arguing that much of the donorassisted programming in Afghanistan is based on a flawed and fragmentary understanding of gendered power relations and priorities, to the detriment of the goals of both peace and women's rights.
War, Women, and the Question of Feminist Intervention in Afghanistan
Can a military intervention ever be feminist? Fourteen years ago, when the U.S. was first invading Afghanistan, its first and most obvious justification was to find Osama bin Laden and to remove the Taliban government that had allowed him to operate within their borders. However, another rationale the George W. Bush administration utilized to garner support for the initial invasion, and that has been brought up repeatedly to justify the continuation of that war: to protect and free Afghan women. The coupling of women’s liberation with the American invasion may delegitimize the movement, and furthermore necessitate ongoing occupation to prevent losses. Furthermore, the fact that Afghanistan was the world’s most dangerous place to be a woman after a decade of U.S. efforts to improve the lot of Afghan women does not bode well for the success of that American endeavor. With that in mind, it is important to question whether a military intervention can serve feminist ends (defining feminism simply as the political, social, and economic equality between the sexes.)