Posted by Iranian on May 15, 2007, 10:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Afghan women's lives on the line in struggle for equality" --Previous Message--
209.74.96.17
You have to Nuke sorry Amen does not work in the desert.
: Can I have an Amen?!
:
: --Previous Message--
: Get rid of ISLAM and they all will
: learn to live as human beings
: happily ever after.
:
: --Previous Message--
: From Nic Robertson and Sarah Sultoon
: CNN
:
: Adjust font size: KABUL, Afghanistan
: (CNN) -- Bibi Kuku, a 19-year-old
: Afghan woman, wanted to die. Forced
: to marry and soon pregnant, she set
: herself on fire in an extreme act of
: self-harm, she told the nurses who
: treated her.
:
: She denies that happened now, saying
: the burns on her belly came from an
: accident with an oil lamp. Kuku and
: her baby survived, but her scars
: will always remain.
:
: Human rights activists and officials
: say Kuku's case is not uncommon in
: Afghanistan. Although strides have
: been made for women's rights in the
: post-Taliban era, many women are
: still made to feel like second-class
: citizens. (Watch the brutal reality
: of life for Afghan women )
:
: Afghan laws stipulate that men and
: women have equal rights, these
: experts say, but they are just not
: recognized.
:
: "There is a thinking of men in
: my country that women are not real,
: not complete humans," said Homa
: Sultani, an Afghan woman and human
: rights activist.
:
: "That is why they think that if
: they are not complete humans, then
: they do not have the right to go to
: the doctor or the other rights, to
: get education."
:
: The culture allows Afghan men to go
: even further, she said.
:
: "Men think that they have the
: right to kill their wives because
: they think that when they get
: married, their wives, or maybe their
: daughters, [become] their private
: property and ... you can do anything
: -- you can throw them away, you can
: demolish them."
:
: Suicides on the rise
: But sometimes, it is the women
: themselves who throw their lives
: away.
:
: Officials at the hospital where Kuku
: was being treated say 80 percent of
: their burn victims are women --
: about one-third of them
: self-inflicted injuries. Doctors say
: many of those are women who set
: themselves on fire in suicide
: attempts. It's a trend, they say,
: that's on the rise.
:
: Post-Taliban Afghanistan does now
: recognize the rights of women,
: although Mazari Safra, the nation's
: deputy minister for women, admits
: there are still social barriers
: women need to break through.
:
: But she says progress made since the
: fall of the Taliban and their strict
: Islamic law may actually be driving
: increasing numbers of women to try
: to kill themselves.
:
: "There are three main causes
: behind these suicides: first is the
: awareness -- when their awareness
: increases they become aware they
: have very limited resources, their
: frustration increases and they
: commit suicide," she said.
:
: "Second is economic poverty.
: Poverty plays an important
: role," she continued.
:
: "The third reason is the
: psychological effects of war ... the
: people get impatient."
:
: Age-old traditions difficult to
: overcome
: Female activist Sultani says
: problems go back to years of war and
: occupation that preceded the rule of
: the Taliban, which was toppled in
: October 2001 during the post-9/11
: U.S.-led invasion.
:
: Under the Taliban, women were forced
: to wear burqas covering them from
: head to toe, and girls were not
: allowed to attend school. (Watch
: beating the Taliban through schools
: )
:
: Sultani says women were
: "zero" under the Taliban.
:
: "Now they can go to schools,
: they can go to work, they can do any
: social activity, they can work. For
: example, I can work here, I am not
: forced to wear burqa and these
: things," she said.
:
: "This is a change, but you
: cannot say that this is a big change
: in [comparison] with life of women
: before Taliban."
:
: Most Afghan women are illiterate,
: she says, so her organization
: develops videos to inform women of
: their human and civil rights.
:
: The age-old traditions hamper many
: things -- husbands do not like their
: wives or daughters to be seen by
: male doctors, and many women still
: die in childbirth -- but the
: present-day security situation can
: be just as damaging, with fear of
: attacks keeping women at home.
:
: "The main reason now most of
: the people do not let their girls go
: to schools is the bad security
: situation," Sultani said.
:
: Crimes against women -- at home or
: outside -- are at least investigated
: now. Pashtoon Stanakzai, one of two
: female officers at a police station
: in Kabul, said many women do not
: understand their rights, but she
: tries to help.
:
: "When they come here, they cry
: and they are very panicked,"
: she said. "First I calm them
: down, and after that I find out what
: was the reason and who was blamed.
:
: "If the lady is blamed, then I
: advise her. And if someone else is
: blamed, then in the course of the
: investigation, I ask the doer of
: that action to show up and [I]
: investigate."
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread