(picture:Birmingham 1963)
12-01-2009
WASHINGTON — Women's rights activists on Tuesday backed a US troop surge in Afghanistan but warned that hard-fought gains in women's rights will vanish without a long-term commitment to develop the country. "If the US left, women would be back in their burkas," said Esther Hyneman, a member of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), a rights group advocating for Afghan women in the United States and Afghanistan.
Her comments came just hours before President Barack Obama's long-awaited speech on Afghanistan, during which he was set to announce an accelerated deployment of 30,000 troops within six months to the war-torn country and a US drawdown to begin by July 2011.
While a troop surge would help to bring much-needed security to Afghanistan, "the platform on which everything else can be built," the United States must meet its pledge to Afghan women, said Afghan-American Masuda Sultan, who serves on WAW's board.
"When the fall of the Taliban happened, we said, 'Go to school, take jobs.' Afghan women risked their lives, they did it," said Sultan, who has moved back to Afghanistan and works as an adviser to the Finance Ministry in addition to her WAW advocacy work.
"We have a moral obligation to continue to follow through for Afghan women who have put themselves at risk over the last eight years," she told reporters.
Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women have made "modest" rights gains, said WAW's Sunita Viswanath.
Girls can go to school, women can work and serve in government, but the society and culture remain hostile to women, with women and underage girls still forced into marriage, sold or even handed over to another family as restitution for a crime.
Islamist insurgents destroy girls' schools in Afghanistan and the Afghan parliament has yet to approve a draft law on violence against women.
A UN report issued Monday said violence targeting women and girls is "widespread and deeply rooted in Afghan society" and not condemned by society and institutions."
"No real peace and national development are possible without the elimination of violence against women," added Zia Moballegh, acting country director for the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, at the launch of the report in Kabul.
In addition to restoring security, the United States needs to prod Kabul to undertake "painful political reforms to address the systematic problems Afghanistan has with its culture of impunity," Rachel Reid of Human Rights Watch told the news conference in Washington.
She cited the story of a young woman who, years after the fall of the Taliban, was gang-raped by the followers of a warlord in northern Afghanistan. The victim's family waged a long and difficult campaign to bring the men to justice, and they were eventually jailed -- only to be freed by President Hamid Karzai. Viswanath said without a long-term commitment from the United States and other countries, Afghan women "will be back in the dark ages." "America must make a long-term commitment to Afghanistan. Countries cannot recover overnight from 30 years of war, chaos, destruction, subjugation," she said. Afghans were waiting as eagerly as Americans to hear Obama's speech, said Sultan.
"The Afghan people have for the last several months been wondering if the US is going to remain committed to Afghanistan. They've been wondering if they should side with the local Taliban or with the Afghan government and international forces," she said.
Viswanath said that setting a three-year deadline for a troop drawdown could send the wrong message to Afghans. "Based on our experience on the ground, it's highly unlikely that in three years the country will be secure enough for the US to leave," she told AFP. "So this sounds to us like it isn't a statement of 'we're with the people of Afghanistan for the long-haul or committed to staying with you until you're able to secure and govern yourself'," she said.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON — Women's rights activists on Tuesday backed a US troop surge in Afghanistan but warned that hard-fought gains in women's rights will vanish without a long-term commitment to develop the country. "If the US left, women would be back in their burkas," said Esther Hyneman, a member of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), a rights group advocating for Afghan women in the United States and Afghanistan.
Her comments came just hours before President Barack Obama's long-awaited speech on Afghanistan, during which he was set to announce an accelerated deployment of 30,000 troops within six months to the war-torn country and a US drawdown to begin by July 2011.
While a troop surge would help to bring much-needed security to Afghanistan, "the platform on which everything else can be built," the United States must meet its pledge to Afghan women, said Afghan-American Masuda Sultan, who serves on WAW's board.
"When the fall of the Taliban happened, we said, 'Go to school, take jobs.' Afghan women risked their lives, they did it," said Sultan, who has moved back to Afghanistan and works as an adviser to the Finance Ministry in addition to her WAW advocacy work.
"We have a moral obligation to continue to follow through for Afghan women who have put themselves at risk over the last eight years," she told reporters.
Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women have made "modest" rights gains, said WAW's Sunita Viswanath.
Girls can go to school, women can work and serve in government, but the society and culture remain hostile to women, with women and underage girls still forced into marriage, sold or even handed over to another family as restitution for a crime.
Islamist insurgents destroy girls' schools in Afghanistan and the Afghan parliament has yet to approve a draft law on violence against women.
A UN report issued Monday said violence targeting women and girls is "widespread and deeply rooted in Afghan society" and not condemned by society and institutions."
"No real peace and national development are possible without the elimination of violence against women," added Zia Moballegh, acting country director for the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, at the launch of the report in Kabul.
In addition to restoring security, the United States needs to prod Kabul to undertake "painful political reforms to address the systematic problems Afghanistan has with its culture of impunity," Rachel Reid of Human Rights Watch told the news conference in Washington.
She cited the story of a young woman who, years after the fall of the Taliban, was gang-raped by the followers of a warlord in northern Afghanistan. The victim's family waged a long and difficult campaign to bring the men to justice, and they were eventually jailed -- only to be freed by President Hamid Karzai. Viswanath said without a long-term commitment from the United States and other countries, Afghan women "will be back in the dark ages." "America must make a long-term commitment to Afghanistan. Countries cannot recover overnight from 30 years of war, chaos, destruction, subjugation," she said. Afghans were waiting as eagerly as Americans to hear Obama's speech, said Sultan.
"The Afghan people have for the last several months been wondering if the US is going to remain committed to Afghanistan. They've been wondering if they should side with the local Taliban or with the Afghan government and international forces," she said.
Viswanath said that setting a three-year deadline for a troop drawdown could send the wrong message to Afghans. "Based on our experience on the ground, it's highly unlikely that in three years the country will be secure enough for the US to leave," she told AFP. "So this sounds to us like it isn't a statement of 'we're with the people of Afghanistan for the long-haul or committed to staying with you until you're able to secure and govern yourself'," she said.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
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