TalibanStripping the Indentities of Afghanistan Women Essays

TalibanStripping the Indentities of Afghanistan Women Essays TalibanStripping the Indentities of Afghanistan Women Essay TalibanStripping the Indentities of Afghanistan Women Essay Imagine if you will a group of taking over our country and banning the female population from having any place or participation in society. By this I mean as a woman you are no longer to be seen, you are no longer to be heard,you are no longer to work outside the home, you are no longer to be educated, and you are no longer to have access to health care. This idea to most women is an unthinkable nightmare. For the women in Afghanistan it has become their sad reality. The women of Afghanistan are not only being denied the bare necessities of life, but have also been striped of any identity they once had. The group of men that has taken over the nation of Afghanistan is known as the Taliban. The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamic regime, and in the name of Islam has place ungodly restriction on the lives of Afghan women. The Taliban came from a background of systematic deprivation and manipulation without recource to cultural and family norms of human development(Peshawar 5). According to Physicians For Human Rights, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half of its population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of physical punishment from showing their faces, seeking medical care with out an escort, or attending school(PHR 2). As women they are not respected nor appreciated for their contribution in society, but rather abused and tortured for being the gender they are. In order to fully understand the harsh extent of the situation it is important to know the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on Afghan women. According to the R. A. W. A. (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), Taliban treat women worse than they treat animals. They have declared keeping of caged animals and birds illegal while they have imprisoned women inside the four walls of their own homes. Except for producing children or satifying their sexual needs or drudgery or everyday housework there is no importance for women in their eyes(R. A. W. A/ homepage). The list of retrictions listed by the R. A. W. A. includes a complete ban on womens work outside their houses. Complete ban on womens movement outside their houses without a father, brother, or husband. Ban on dealing with male shopkeepers. Ban on being treated by male doctors. Ban on studying at schools. Compulsory wearing or a long veil which covers a woman from head to toe. Whipping, beating and verbal abuse of women are the penalties for not following the rules. Whipping women in public for having non-covered ankles. A public stoning of women for talking or shaking hands with non-related males. The list given is long, but not inclusive. It is obvious that there are many implications that come with each of the restrictions. The restriction of health care by the Tabiban is the most shocking. According to the P. H. R. , More recent United Nations surveys estimate that only ten percent of Afghan women recieve any type of formal parental or maternal care and less than six percent of deliveries are attended by trained birth attendents(P. H. R. 70). The future of healthcare for Afghan women is an even sadder state. Under the current system of which no women are being ecucated, there will be no health care for the next generation. Despite the obvious physical danger the women in Afghanistan are in, there is also the sad reality that all of these women have been stripped of their identities. These men have taken from them everything that was once theirs including their sense of self. These women are tragically taking their own lives in fear and desperation, or just simply losing their minds from the trauma they witness on a daily basis. It is shocking that this tragedy has been allowed to continue for the past three years. It is shocking that the rest of the world has not seen this brutality and stepped in. It is even more shocking that we live in a world of mass communication and most people I know are unaware that this situation is even taking place. Bibliography: Belquis, R. A. The Words of Afghan Women. Brussels, Belgium. March 1998. R. A. W. A. Revolution Association of the Women of Afghanistan. University of Iowa. March 26 1999 rawa. org/. The Country that has Declared All-Out War on Women. Glamour 1999 United States. Physicians for Human Rights. The Talibans War on Women; A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan. Washington, 1998.