http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/afghan-women-reveal-tenacity/story-e6frg6zo-1225842988336
Afghan women reveal tenacity Kathleen Parker From: The Australian March 20, 2010 12:00AM IF your impression of an Afghan woman is of a shapeless, frightened form engulfed in metres of heat-trapping fabric, you haven't met Shafiqa Quraishi. Make that Colonel Quraishi, who earned her title as one of 900-plus female members of the Afghan National Police. Quraishi, who is director of gender, human and child rights within the Afghan Ministry of the Interior, was one of nine women in Washington to receive the International Women of Courage Award from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She and fellow Afghan award recipient Shukria Asil met members of the US-Afghan Women's Council to discuss ways to help women and children struggling for rights and security. Whatever you think you know about Afghanistan, the reality is probably far better - and far worse. And though burkas are still worn by many, they are less visible these days on city streets as women assume new roles. Speaking through translators, the two women reiterated a dominant theme: "We are not victims." Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Related Coverage a.. Global day for women Perth Now, 8 Mar 2010 b.. NATO strike kills 'at least' 33 civilians Adelaide Now, 22 Feb 2010 c.. Asylum seekers threaten suicide Adelaide Now, 9 Feb 2010 d.. Deadly start to President's second term Adelaide Now, 20 Nov 2009 e.. Five killed in attack on former warlord Adelaide Now, 20 Nov 2009 End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Yes, of course, many have been victimised by brutal regimes in some cases, or by cultural forces, or by men who have hijacked religion to justify actions that would be treated as crimes in our part of the world. But these women are not seeking restitution; they are seeking empowerment. This is a crucial distinction that underscores the courage they display in the routine machinations of everyday life. I heard the "not victims" refrain a day earlier from another group of women - from Bahrain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Brazil and Haiti - here to be honoured by Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organisation that works to empower female leaders and social entrepreneurs around the world. Vital Voices, which grew out of the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, focuses on advancing women as a US foreign policy goal. Translation: empowering women will lead to greater prosperity and world peace. One cannot sit and talk with these women and escape inspiration. On one end of the spectrum is Afnan al-Zayani, a CEO from Bahrain who leads the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen's Network. On the other is Rebecca Lolosoli, matriarch of Kenya's Umoja Village, an all-women's community she created to support women, girls, orphans and widows who had been abandoned by their families or were fleeing domestic violence, forced marriage or genital mutilation. But, again, they refuse to be victims. Roshaneh Zafar, who founded the first microfinance organisation in Pakistan focusing on low-income women, is adamant on this point. She doesn't want to be rescued (nor does she have any interest in apologising for her religion). "Like all women everywhere, we want to be empowered," she says. Quraishi's immediate goal is to expand the number of women in the police force to 5000. Hers is a daunting task in part because of cultural barriers. Both men and women have to be convinced that policework and other non-traditional professions are "respectable" for a woman. Before women can become professionals, they have to be educated. Only 30 per cent of Afghan girls attend school, in part because of the danger but also because of poverty. Children are needed to work, if they are not already heads of household, as many are. Asil says that with $US100 ($108) a month, a child can feed his family. But where does one get that kind of money in a nation struggling to reinvent basic institutions? Washington Post Writers Group [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
