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The sad, perilous lives of Afghan women By MURIEL DOBBIN McClatchy Newspapers September 30, 2001 - They are women who once were doctors and teachers, civil servants and students. Now they see only a shrunken world through a slit in a shroud-like garment called a burqa. They can make no decisions because they have no rights. They are forbidden to go to school or work or even to a doctor because they are not allowed to leave home by themselves. A glimpse of ankle beneath their long skirts can provoke a beating. Their fingers may be cut off for wearing nail polish, and 100 lashes is the punishment for being caught alone with a man who is not a family member. They cannot look to their husbands for help because men are also persecuted, facing jail for not having long enough beards. For defiance, such as running underground schools or clinics, they may be shot or stoned to death. They are the women of Afghanistan. They are the invisible women whose plight has finally captured global attention because they live under the tyranny of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, which is believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden, suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States. The focusing of a global spotlight on Afghanistan may be the last hope of women who have lived in increasing misery since 1996 when the Taliban took over, according to witnesses like Patricia Omedian, a California medical anthropologist who lived with Afghan families over the past four years and was evacuated three days after the attacks on New York and Washington. "One couple told me they would welcome American bombs because they see themselves as the walking dead," said Omedian. The question is what the United States can and should do to alleviate a situation where women and children represent at least 80 percent of an estimated 3 million Afghans fleeing drought, persecution and starvation, crammed into refugee camps on the Pakistan border and in Iran. Those remaining in Afghanistan are reported dying from hunger and disease in a ravaged economy now coping with the worst drought in 30 years. P. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia for Amnesty International, voiced relief that the United States so far had launched no major military attack against Afghanistan as a result of the terrorist attacks. He was one of those warning of the danger that the victims of Taliban abuse could become the victims of American revenge. "These women have been treated like the spoils of war for more than 20 years," said Kumar. He suggested that what was needed was immediate material help and a strategy to replace the Taliban with a more humane and tolerant government. A high proportion of Afghan men are dead or imprisoned as a result of almost three decades of civil war. Women who a decade ago were 70 percent of Afghanistan's teachers, 40 percent of its doctors and 50 percent of its civil servants are now living under what witnesses described as house arrest. The sufferings of the female population date back to the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989, when women lived in fear of rape and robbery. That was followed by the brutality of the Mujahideen, American-backed rebels who forced out the Russians. In 1996 the Taliban took over and began enforcing rigorous Islamic rules, especially against women. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said the situation had worsened since 1996, when women 's organizations mobilized to block diplomatic recognition of the Taliban and to raise money and aid for the women of Afghanistan. "We have condemned gender apartheid but we must do more. The immediate crisis is humanitarian," said Smeal, who believes American military action would only make things worse. "This is a hijacked country, and the world has turned its back on it," she said. The State Department reported that the United States was the single largest contributor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan last year, providing more than $100 million. However, officials running the United Nations food program estimated $1 billion is needed. Yet Patricia Omedian, who said she wanted to go back to Afghanistan to continue her work with relief agencies, urged that America concentrate now on humanitarian aid to help those most in need, in addition to its mission of hunting down terrorists. "If the U.S. does that, the Afghan people will be 100 percent behind them because they will see it as helping to overturn the Taliban," said Omedian. Omedian who speaks fluent Dari, one of the principal languages of Afghanistan, reported that she wore a ground-length coat and long scarf covering her head when she worked there and experienced no abuse from the Taliban, although they were unpredictable about permission for training and research work. Stressing the desperation of both men and women in Afghanistan, Omedian said, "Until last year, people at least felt safe in their houses. Now nobody is safe anymore because the Taliban feels it is losing its power base and its reaction has been to increase its brutality, especially against women. Sima Wali, who fled Kabul 21 years ago and founded Refugee Women in Development, a group focused on human rights and gender problems, said sadly, "I believe the United States walked away after it funded the Taliban to get rid of the Russians. Instead of helping the country rebuild and choose its own form of government, what we have is the politics of abandonment." She urged that the United Nations consider declaring a protectorate zone for Afghanistan as a first step in ridding it of terrorism. Emergency aid was important, she acknowledged, but it did not provide the development of community-based leadership as an alternative to the Taliban. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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