OPEN SOCIETY AFGHANISTAN

Transcription

1 OPEN SOCIETY AFGHANISTAN

2 Women and Children s Legal Research Foundation, 2012 About WCLRF The Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) was established in March 2002 in Kabul. It was created primarily to respond to the injustices caused by traditional and customary practices against women and children in Afghanistan. WCLRF s work is focused on several long-term objectives, addressing topics that are often considered sensitive in Afghan society, but which bear heavily on the health and welfare of women and girls. The overall purpose of WCLRF s programming is to empower women and children to claim their legal human rights, particularly the rights to dignity, equality and justice. WCLRF strives to make the voices of women and children heard in all regions of the country, encouraging men to accept the challenge of making communities and homes safe for women and children. Our strategy is to mobilize communities to prevent violence and respect rights. WCLRF analyzes the causes of problems faced by women and children by conducting evidence-based research and building advocacy programs that respond to our research findings. In the communities where WCLRF works, awareness has been raised of the negative impacts of certain customary practices. Our advocacy work is bearing fruit. For instance, after our work on the extravagant costs of weddings and the resulting impact on family economies, in some villages, local authorities have imposed a maximum amount that can be spent on marriages. Our research found that the higher the price for a wedding, the higher the likelihood that there will be violence in the marriage. WCLRF is working with the communities and with local authorities not against them. The outcome of our work is directed at improving communities as PAGE 1

3 a whole, and not just individuals. WCLRF s activities currently cover a number of provinces including Kabul, Parwan, Balkh, Badakhshan and Nangarhar, and we work in both urban and rural areas. Other Reports Published by WCLRF Women s Access to Justice Violence Against Women Wife Battering Polygamy Situation of Girl children in Afghanistan Child Marriage Women s Rights to Inheritance Bad: A Painful Sedative in Afghanistan Access to the Right of Identity Cards and Registration of Births in Afghanistan Extravagant Expenditures on Weddings Study on the Impact of Proverbs Against Women in Afghanistan Violence Against Women (report; and documentary film) A Look Into the Practice of Child Naming in Afghanistan Waqeyat ( Reality ) - Legal and research magazine published periodically Jurmana An advocacy film about reform of Bad in Afghan Society A local song clip reflecting children s rights Bad A radio drama on this customary practice For more information please visit TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Introduction Context Methodology Purpose Participants Data Collection Methods Limitations Findings Opinions and Attitudes Towards Women in Politics Confidence in Elected Women Voting Patterns and Choice Political Awareness, Engagement and Civic Education The Campaign Experience of Female Candidates Conclusion and Recommendations Recommendation to the Government of Afghanistan Recommendations to the Independent Elections Commission Recommendations to the Development, Afghan Civil Society and Donor Community References List of Tables Table 3.1 Survey Respondents, by Province Table 3.2 Respondent Groups Table 3.3 Educational Level of Elected Candidates Table 3.4 Educational Level of Unelected Candidates Table 4.1 Women Have the Right to Participate in Elections, by Education Do you think that women in parliament must often persentage who agreed used thier position to Table 4.3 Percentage of Respondents, by Province, Who Voted in 2010 Elections PAGE 2 PAGE 3

4 Table 4.4: Ages of Elected Candidates Table 4.5: Ages of Unelected Candidates Table 4.6: The Extent to Which Elected Female MPs Were Supported by Religious Figures Table 4.7: The Extent to Which Unelected Female MPs Were Supported Acknowledgements WCLRF is grateful to numerous individuals who assisted in the process of completing this study. In particular, the study s donor, the Open Society Institute, made this research possible through their generous financial assistance. We deeply value the hard work of the surveyors across ten provinces who collected the data you will read about in the report. We also appreciate the good work of all of those staff members at WCLRF who helped computerize and enter the data into the database. Finally, we would like to thank the respondents of the study who welcomed our questions and generously shared their thoughts, opinions and experiences with our team. We hope we accurate captured what they told us, and we hope that this study may serve to shed new light on the need to further strengthen their right to political participation. PAGE 4 PAGE 5

5 Acronyms AREU... Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit CDC... Community Development Council CEDAW... Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women ECC... Electoral Complaints Commission EVAW... Elimination of Violence Against Women Law FEFA... Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan IDEA... International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance IEC... Independent Elections Commission of Afghanistan MP... Member of Parliament NGO... Non-Governmental Organization PC....Provincial Council PDPA... People s Democratic Party of Afghanistan SNTV... Single non-transferrable vote TAF... The Asia Foundation Executive Summary While Afghan women had gradually gained modest political rights during the A concerted effort is needed to target all stages of women s political participation from the moment they decide they want to run for public office, through each step till they reach that designated office, and thereafter - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia and first elected female head of state in Africa 20th century, this trend was abruptly halted in the 1990s when the mujahideen, and then later the Taliban, came to power. That decade saw a violent interruption in women s political participation. Women s right to vote, first granted in 1965, was restored when women and men both went to the polls in 2004 in the country s first presidential elections of the post-taliban Governmentera. Since then, three more elections were held: the first parliamentary elections in 2005, presidential elections in 2009, and parliamentary elections again in In all four elections, women ran as candidates, and the number of female candidates increased with each election. Women also were elected onto Provincial Councils (PCs), joined Community Development Councils (CDCs) and shuras, and Afghans witnessed a slow but steady increase of women employed in the civil service. This study has sought to measure what Afghan women think of these changes, looking into their views on women s entry in politics, their expectations of female politicians, and their own actions in response to the new political rights granted by Afghanistan s 2004 Constitution, by the Electoral Law, and by other laws and policies that have promoted women s equality. The study also examined the campaign experiences of female candidates. To do so, this report relied on the collection of quantitative data from a sample of 2,900 female voters, PAGE 6 PAGE 7

6 49 elected female candidates, and 51 unelected female candidates, all of whom were drawn from 10 of Afghanistan s 34 provinces, for a total of 3,000 respondents. The study found that the female voter respondents overwhelmingly support the notion that women have the right to political participation, including the right to vote and the right to run as a candidate in an election. While 94% of female voters agreed, there was marginal variation by educational level in particular, with agreement rising alongside educational level. For instance, 100% of women with university education agreed women have this right, while 83.5% of women with only a primary education level agreed. Afghan women have fought hard for these achievements and for the laws underpinning them, but progress toward the goal of an Afghanistan where women and men have equal opportunities in national politics has been hindered by enduring social prejudices against women s involvement in public life and by official policies that fail to account for the ways Afghan elections affect women and men differently. - Free and Fair Elections Foundation, Afghanistan 2010 Among the reasons given for disagreeing were not understanding what elections were or believing that voting was immoral for women, suggesting an ongoing need for basic civic education targeted at women that would explain the purpose and process of elections. Voter turnout among the 2,900 respondents was also correlated with educational level, being highest among the female respondents with the highest education levels. The data also showed that there was a higher likelihood that educated women voted for female candidates, with a notable increase between the level of undergraduate and graduate education. Most respondents who voted had voted for female candi- dates, and 60% of the women they voted for had been elected. However, respondents who voted for women felt that the women representatives could do a better job representing female interests. One of the main reasons cited for voting for female candidates was that women would be more likely to fight for improving female education. Education for women emerged as a priority across the findings, consistent with similar recent studies that demonstrate an intense demand for education among Afghans in general. When respondents voted for men, merit was infrequently cited. Most (79.3%) said they did so because they had a personal connection to the candidate, such as the candidate being a relative or because the candidate was who their family had chosen to vote for, suggesting that family relations or patronage networks are more likely to be used as criteria for candidate preference when the candidate is a male. This finding, and findings from other research cited in the report, suggests that civic education efforts should support women to make informed, empowered, individual choices when voting. Further, more efforts are needed to prevent the co-optation of women s votes, a concern that characterized all recent Afghan elections. The findings from the sample of female candidates found that those who ran for election tend to be highly educated and usually young (under the age of 36). Most had the support of their husbands and extended families in their decision to candidate themselves; however, some candidates were still elected despite indicating that their husbands were not in agreement with their decision to run. Most also had a positive experience working with the media for coverage of their campaigns; however, very few had any contact with women s organizations and most candidates did not feel that civil society groups were important to their campaigns. The vast majority reached out to religious figures for support in their cam- PAGE 8 PAGE 9

7 paigns, and this confirms the findings of other studies that indicate that the endorsement or condemnation of religious figures can make or break a woman s campaign. Candidates faced numerous other constraints in their campaigns, including struggling to obtain the financial resources required to run a successful campaign, insecurity and direct personal threats, and social and cultural restraints to women s participation in public life. Most candidates place an explicit emphasis on the need for women to be represented in politics as a primary motivation for running for election. They see the electoral process as highly gendered, and as a means to better ensure women s interests in government policies. Most were confident that their experience and merit above all else had led to electoral successes. For unelected women, it appears that few were deterred from trying again in the future: 85.7% stated that they plan to run again in future elections, and 100% of those unelected candidates age 35 and under stated they would try to run again, a positive sign for the ongoing participation of women in Afghan elections. The findings led to several practical recommendations targeted at key groups of stakeholders: the Afghan Government, the Independent Elections Commission, Afghan NGOs, international organizations, and the donor community, and finally, at researchers seeking to further explore this topic. Our hope is that these findings will serve in a small way to strengthen efforts to increase women s access to the political sphere. 1. Introduction Voters shall have equal rights of participation in the elections. Article 3, Electoral Law of Afghanistan Afghanistan has experienced dramatic and transformative change in the past decade. From the obscurantism of the Taliban regime, and the poverty and institutionalized misogyny that characterized that period, Afghans have embarked upon a period of great change, as they still contend with great challenges. From booming, if uneven, economic growth to the rebuilding and development of infrastructure underway, to the many social changes that have come about since 2002, Afghanistan is a very different place than it was in the late 1990s. In particular, a democratic experiment has begun, in which new political institutions were founded, like the Community Development Councils (CDCs), and others were resurrected, like parliament. A diverse, vibrant civil society has evolved as a key stakeholder to the country s political landscape. An overhaul of old legal systems is underway, in which new laws that will shape the country s civic and political culture are now in force or are being legislated, such as the 2004 Constitution, the Electoral Law, the Media Law, and the evolution of parliamentary protocols and procedures. The flourishing media sector has ignited dialogue on political issues, keenly reporting on political affairs, hosting political personalities on talk shows and panels, and using satire to comment on and criticize political developments unfolding in the country. All of this has brought about lively discussion among Afghans over political issues, whether on the emerging Afghan blogosphere, or in the tea shops and living rooms of ordinary citizens as they exchange opinions and ideas on a political environment that is many things, but never dull. At the heart of all of these changes have been women. Afghan PAGE 10 PAGE 11

8 Women in Office in Afghanistan Seats held by women in the Wolesi Jirga (since 2010): 27.3% Seats held by women in Provincial Councils (since 2009): 28.6% Number of female presidential candidates (2004): 1 of 18 Number of female presidential candidates (2009): 2 of 41 Number of female candidates in provincial council elections (2004): 247 of 3025 (8.2%) Number of female candidates in provincial council elections (2009): 328 of 3196 (10.3%) Number of female candidates in parliamentary elections (2005): 328 of 2775 Afghan Women and Historical International Legislation - Afghanistan was one of the 48 countries that voted in favour of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the UN General Assembly in 10 December Afghanistan signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1980 (however, CEDAW was only ratified in 2003) - Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994, five years after the Convention was adopted by the UN GeneralAssembly. women emerged from being prisoners of their homes under Taliban rule, to making a courageous comeback into the public life of their country. They were assisted in some part by political structures aimed at facilitating their participation: a parliament that welcomed women into its ranks, a gender equality clause in the new constitution, the ratification of the Convention of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the establishment of a Ministry of Women s Affairs, among others. The international community acknowledged to some extent the severity of the human rights crisis women had faced under the Taliban, and the work that would lie ahead to build a state where the rights of women would enjoy better protection. But more than anything, it is has been Afghan women themselves who have taken the lead in asserting their rights. They have advocated for progressive legislation (such as the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law), pushed back against proposed legislation harmful to women (like the Shia Personal Status Law), and defended the rights of women to participate in the social, economic and political life of their country. They have challenged attitudes and behaviour that deny women their natural rights, and they have carved out new space for themselves in public life. What has the result been of these efforts and the impact of push-back to women s rights for women? To what degree has permanent progress been achieved, relative to symbolic gesture? How, why and where are women truly participating in the political life of their country? How do men and other women react to women s political participation? These are some of the questions that have inspired this study, and prompted us to turn to women themselves to ask PAGE 12 PAGE 13

9 them about the ways in which they participate in the political sphere, particularly through the medium of elections. In turn, we hope that these findings may tell us something about what lies ahead for the women of Afghanistan and their political future. This report is divided into five major sections. The context section that follows the introduction provides relevant background information to frame the study s findings, describing some of the legal and policy framework that guarantees women s political participation, citing some of the challenges to women taking part in politics, and considering some of the legacies of the past upon which women women s political participation today rests. The third section explains the study s methodology, describing the research questions, the participants, the collection and analysis of the data, and acknowledging limitations to the present study. The fourth section presents the findings, described within five sub-sections, and complemented by inclusion of relevant findings from other recent studies that further illuminate the research: Opinions and Attitudes Towards Women in Politics; Confidence in Elected Women; Voting Patterns and Choice; Political Awareness, Engagement and Civic Education; and, the Campaign Experience of Women Candidates. The final section includes recommendations to various stakeholders groups, drawn from the study s findings, and intended to identify means of further strengthening women s meaningful and active political engagement through targeted action. 2. Context In the post-taliban years, there has been an emphasis on women s rights in the discourse of both the Afghan Government and its foreign donors. The language of gender is found in the policies coming from the Government and donors, whether in the emphasis in the Afghanistan National Devel- opment Strategy (ANDS) on improving the status of women, or in the establishment of the Gender Working Group, a governmental coordination body created to mainstream gender across government ministries. Many ministries employ staff designated to work on gender mainstreaming, and many have ministerial gender policies. Importantly, the theme of gender equality was introduced into the state s rhetoric early on, when the country s new constitution of 2004 specifically cited a guarantee of non-discrimination of the sexes (Article 22). The metrics are there too. Under the Electoral Law newly established, a quota was introduced for womenin parliament. I know many people are not happy about this, they just don t accept a woman as mayor. I also don t say I can do this job because I am woman but because I have the capability Azra Jaffari, Mayor of Nili, Daikundi province Women have run for and joined the Provincial Councils, and the Gender Directorate of the Inde pendent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission has been tasked with raising the percentage of women in the civil service to 30% by There has been a female governor in power since 2005 (Dr. Habiba Sarabi of Bamiyan province), three female cabinet ministers as of Spring 2012, and a female mayor, Azra Jaffari, was appointed to head a municipality of Daikundi province in The Afghan Independent Elections Commission (IEC) is expected to observe the Electoral Decree of 2010 as well as Article 22 of the Afghan Constitution which guarantees legal equality between men and women, which mandates them to provide equal opportunity to men and women to participate in elections, as well as mainstream gender throughout all policies, plans and operations impacting elections. PAGE 14 PAGE 15

10 But have the rising numbers of women in politics led automatically to positive change for women? This is one question that this study has concerned itself with. The visibility of women in political space is bound to change the dynamic of that political space in some way. Yet, women s presence alone is hardly sufficient. Numerous other factors Gender and the IEC A Gender Unit was introduced into the IEC in There is a Gender Focal Point in each IEC provincial office Gender sensitive training is offered to IEC commissioners and other staff The IEC provides sex-disaggregated data on elections Meetings on women and elections are held by the IEC for stakeholders Lessons Learned in gender workshops were hosted after the 2009 and 2010 elections The IEC aims to recruit more women staff. In 2010, there was 31% female civic educators; 19% female district field coordinators; 2 of 7 commissioners are female; and 1 of 5 departmental directors is female. help determine the degree of agency women have in the political arena. These factors include the level of awareness among both men and women of women s legal rights and the culture within institutions that have power over women s lives such as the courts, the media, municipal authorities, or the police force. Other factors are the resources women 1 Under Afghanistan s revised Electoral Law (2010), besides the payment of the registration fee, candidates are also required to present 1,000 signatures in support of their candidacy, resign from some specific posts (especially if they hold a government post), fill in a form confirming that they do not have a criminal record, and be assessed for any links to illegal armed groups. in politics have at their disposal: skills and knowledge to help them succeed, support networks and role models, and economic resources such as money to finance a campaign. For instance, to run for a seat in parliament, each candidate must now pay a fee of 30,000 Afs (approximately USD$600) to the IEC as per President Karzai s changes by decree in 2010 to the Electoral Law, while the GDP (PPP) per capita is only USD$1, (2010), among other requirements expected of all candidates1. This is triple the amount required originally when the Electoral Law was adopted in As Lough et al note (2012), these changes highlight the fact that the gains made in terms of expanding women s participation under the early years of the current administration remain fragile and at constant risk of reversal even if this takes place via a process of gradual erosion. There are structural challenges within the emerging governance system women face as well. For instance, while the quota for parliament is a critically important tool that gives women a step up against great odds stacked against their entry into politics, the quota has an important weakness. Although it has yet to occur, in cases where there are no female candidates, the quota law is not clear on whether seats designated for female candidates can be given up to male candidates. The Government needs to clarify this aspect of the law and ensure the law is serving its original intent, that is, to facilitate women s political participation, and not to limit it. Another structural challenge impacting all voters and candidates, men and women, is Afghanistan s use of the single nontransferrable vote (SNTV), an electoral system rarely used by any other state in the world, wherein each voter casts a single vote for a single candidate, which can result in candidates running against members of their own parties, among other weaknesses of this system in terms of proportional representation. In general, SNTV does not facilitate the strengthening PAGE 16 PAGE 17

11 of political parties, and favours running as, and voting for, individual platforms over party platforms as well as favouring block voting, both of which can result in the entrenchment of patronage networks rather than encouraging partisanship. Afghan voters are often unfamiliar with what party a candidate represents, or what the platforms of the various parties are. Political parties are numerous, but remain very weak. An enabling environment for women s political participation is not only necessary at the governmental level,but must also be found at the household and community level. This means that the attitudes, opinionsand behaviour of various gatekeepers play a role in women s access to political space, from husbands and brothers, to in-laws, clerics, shura members and local elders. For instance, it s often reported that religious leaders have publicly condemned women s involvement in politics, regardless of the fact that there is no basis in Islam supporting this view. Mullahs continue to exercise great influence, and are a primary source of information for men. Therefore, altering attitudes that create a hostile environment towards women s political participation demands addressing men, as much or even more so as it does women. This is often a neglected principle of efforts to bring women into the political world. Another critical input to women s political participation is the role of civil society, including the women s movement. Afghanistan has a vibrant, engaged, and increasingly sophisticated civil society and many organizations campaign on issues related to improving women s political participation, in terms of elections and beyond. For instance, an Afghan women s organization, the Roqia Centre, provided training for female candidates ahead of the 2005 elections. The Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) dispatched 7,000 monitors in the 2010 elections, reaching 60% of polling centres across the country. Civil society groups have informal connections to female politicians, as well as some formal connections. For instance, there is a network of women MPs and women in civil society that meets occasionally to coordinate efforts. Civil society can play a crucial role in educating and mobilizing the female electorate, in countering negative perceptions of women in politics, and in monitoring women s access to political participation opportunities. Considering the issues highlighted here, any discussion of women s political participation must also include an environmental scan that looks at these many factors that can be both inhibiting and enabling. It is also important to analyze not only the conditions of the present, but the legacies of the past. While the period of the 1990s in particular saw women shut out of the political sphere when the mujahideen and then the Taliban were in power, earlier in the 20th century, Afghan women were actively involved in the political sphere. For instance, the 1964 Loya Jirga that was convened to draft a new Constitution included six female delegates. The constitution included a provision for women s equality under Afghan law, preceding the current Constitution by 40 years. Women voted for their first time in the 1965 parliamentary elections, when five women were also first elected into the Afghan parliament (three into the Lower House and two into the Upper House). At that time, the first female minister was also appointed, Kubra Noorazai, who became Minister of Public Health, and a women s democratic organization was established that year. However, even before the 1960s, women were politically active in other ways, to a lesser extent. For instance, a women s newspaper had been established in The Government had sent a female delegate to the United Nations in the 1950s. There was a women s movement already in formation by the early 20th century, and Afghan women were forging connections with women s movements elsewhere in the region. For PAGE 18 PAGE 19

12 instance, a delegation of Afghan women attended a conference on Asian Women held in Sri Lanka in Afghan women took part in the various political factions that emerged that century as Afghans formed movements or political parties around different ideologies, from liberal secularism, to socialism and communism, and Islamism. Women were active in the People s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), the communist party that took power in 1979 until 1989 (the women s council of the party still had over 100,000 members by 1991), and a woman from Kabul, Anahita Ratebzad, served as deputy head of state and politburo member in the PDPA regime2. There had been a department, unit or ministry dedicated to improving women s status in the government since the 1920s, up until In 2002, the Ministry of Women s Affairs was once again re-established3. Thus women s political participation is hardly new to Afghanistan, and women joining the political sphere today stand on the shoulders of the women who first carved out space for women in public life much earlier. Women s political engagement in Afghanistan is thus rooted in its past legacies, struggling to find its way in the present, Voter Eligibility in Afghanistan A person is eligible to vote in the elections if that person: a. is at least 18 years of age on the day of the election; b. has Afghan citizenship at the time of registration; c. has not been deprived from his or her civil or political rights by a court of competent jurisdiction; and d. has been registered as a voter by the Commission. - Article 13, Electoral Law of Afghanistan 2 In the PDPA s parliament of 1989, there were seven female representatives. 3 The MoWA opened in 2002 in the former offices of the Women s High Association. and seeking to establish a foundation that will serve women into the future. The findings described below capture a moment in time in Afghanistan s political evolution, telling us something of how Afghan women today think of themselves as political beings, their optimisms and pessimisms in a precarious and complex political environment, amidst an uncertain future. As Afghanistan continues to consolidate democratic institutions, the opinions of the country s female citizens are critical inputs into the formulation of policy and in the development of gender-sensitive political participation programming. We hope this report gives some voice to their concerns, ideas and demands. 3. Methodology This section of the report introduces the research methodology used in identifying this report s findings. For the purposes of this report, we define political participation using the classic definition formulated by the political science scholars Norman H. Nie and Sidney Verba, that political participation is activity that has the intent or effect of influencing government action, whether directly or indirectly. This definition encompasses a wide range of actions and strategies, by both individuals (such as voters or political candidates) and groups (such as political parties or civic action groups). It also includes participating in state power structures at different levels of decision-making. In the case of this report, our focus is on a limited number of political participation activities, namely, voting and running for office. 3.1 Purpose While the role of Afghan women in the political sphere is not a neglected topic in the Afghan media, and has been addressed by other recent research, some of which is cited in this report, there remain gaps in our understanding of the state of women s political participation in Afghanistan. Much of the PAGE 20 PAGE 21

13 research generated to date has been drawn from talking to women within political structures already: parliamentarians, government ministers, or provincial council members. Yet the voices of the female constituencies of women in politics have not been prominent, nor have the perspectives of women who attempted to participate in politics but were unable to. Understanding women s political partic pation in Afghanistan necessitates referring to all of these actors, including those exercising their right to political participation, and those not exercising that right. It is our hope that this study may constitute a modest contribution towards bringing this wider view to bear. Our goal with this research is to provide data that can promote women s meaningful political participation and that can contribute to strengthen ing women s roles in decision-making structures and processes in such a way that it leads to positive and sustainable change for female constituents. Our specific objective was to present a statistical portrait of the experience of women s political participation, from both the perspective of female voters and the perspective of female politicians and candidates. The study had two over-arching research questions, which each included consideration of several sub-questions, as enumerated below. 1 - What is the experience of women s political participation in Afghanistan? - What do women think of their right to vote? - What was women s experience in campaigning during the last elections? - What is the importance of men s support towards women s agendas? - How much access do women in politics have to financial resources? - What do Afghan women expect from women in politics? - How are women s voting choices determined? 2 - What has obstructed women s political participation in Af- ghanistan? - What is the role of cultural and social constraints on women s political participation? - Do women in politics require the support of religious figures and how do religious leaders influence opinions about women s political participation? - Do they require the support of civil society actors? - How does security affect women s political participation? - Is the media supportive of women in politics? 3.2 Participants The survey included three different groups of respondents as follows: Group 1: Female voters (2,900) Group 2: Female candidates who ran for parliament or for provincial councils and were elected (49) Group 3: Female candidates who ran for parliament or for provincial councils but were not elected (51) In total, there were 3,000 respondents between these three groups. Respondents from all three groups were residents of the following provinces: Bamiyan, Badakhshan, Balkh, Kabul, Kapisa, Kunduz, Kandahar, Wardak, Nangarhar and Herat. The provinces were selected so as to be representative of all major regions of the country. The Group 1 respondents represented a range of socio-economic backgrounds, including varying educational levels (see Table 3.1). A major ty of respondents work as governmental employees (64.7%), many are housewives (25.5%), while others are students (4.9%), are employed with NGOs (3.4%), are police women (0.5%), or are self-employed (0.8%). Most respondents were between the ages of 19 and 45, which PAGE 22 PAGE 23

14 the largest group (41.6%) representing the age age group. Of the respondents, 40.4% were single and 59.6% were married. Percentage of Survey Respondents by Province vincial Council. The education levels of female political candidates differs from the general population. For instance, 71.4% of elected candidates and 64% of unelected candidates have a Bachelor level education, compared to 26.5% of Group 1 respondents, and 8.2% of elected candidates and 6% of unelected candidates have a university graduate level education, compared to 2.3% of Group 1 respondents. BAMYAN BADAKHSHAN BALKH KABUL KAPISA KUNDUZ KANDAHAR WARDAK NANGARHAR HERAT Missing Level of Education, Elected Candidates 71.4 Percent Respondents in Groups 2 and 3 consisted of female candidates in the provincial council and parliamentary elections. The breakdown of these respondents by province is shown in Table 3.2 Primary High School Graduate Bachelor Level of Education, Unected Candidates 64 Master Percent Primary High School Graduate Bachelor Master Other information about those women who ran as candidates is found in Section 4.5. Of the elected candidates, 49% ran for parliament 51% had run for Provincial Councils. Of the unelected candidates, 59.2% had run for parliament and 40.8% had run for Pro- 3.3 Data Collection and Analysis Methods This study collected limited quantitative data from a sample of 3,000 female respondents from 10 provinces of Afghanistan to measure a limited number of aspects of respondents political participation and perspectives on women in poli- PAGE 24 PAGE 25

15 tics. Data was collected throughout September to November The field researchers were all female and were recruited from all ten different provinces4, and received two weeks training in Kabul on social research methods. For sampling, one district was randomly selected per province, and in each district, several neighbourhoods were randomly selected (the number depended on population size). Within each neighbourhood, several streets were randomly selected, and the surveyors visited each home on the selected streets. The 100 candidates groups were selected using systematic sampling. An in-depth interview questionnaire was administered by the surveyors to respondents, after initially being field tested in Kabul. Three different questionnaires were used for the three different groups of respondents. Each questionnaire consisted of a mixed set of questions, including yes or no questions, multiple choice questions, and open-ended questions. For open-ended questions, the surveyors completed the questionnaires with the verbatim responses of participants. These responses were then coded and categorized. Prior to the administration of the questionnaire, surveyors explained the purpose and objectives of the study, and prior to each question, they explained all terms, and checked in with respondents on their understanding of the questions. Following the completion of the questionnaires, all responses were then coded and entered into an SPSS database to facilitate analysis. 3.4 Limitations This study used quantitative methods to measure some aspects of women s political participation in 10 provinces of Afghanistan. While such a method facilitates gathering data from a large sample size, it cannot yield the more detailed and rich responses found in some qualitative methods, such as transcribed interview narratives, which can elicit more complex, candid and insightful responses. The quantitative method also lacks flexibility in that respondents were presented with a limited selection of responses in many of the questions, when the true range of possible responses would exceed the options that could feasibly be included in the questionnaire. We were compelled to select a limited number of questions to facilitate the gathering of data from a large sample, thus limiting the range of targeted information. We drew samples from 10 of Afghanistan s 34 provinces. The ten provinces represent each major region of the country, however, Afghanistan is a country rich in ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity, with two major sects of Islam (Shias and Sunnis), and several minority religious populations. Thus every province, and indeed every district, could yield varying results in women s experiences of political participation, thus we acknowledge that the study is not representative to the country as a whole, and data from some districts may be skewed. Further, since participation was voluntary, results can be skewed by the likelihood that women who agreed to participate in the survey are from households where there is likely to be more agreement with women s political participation. The study did not focus on local representative bodies such as Community Development Councils or local institutions like municipalities, and focused more so on provincial and national level political institutions, thus the study did not address the full range of forums for political participation in the country. Voting and political campaigning were selected as two activities of focus within the many possible activities that could have been selected to do with political participation. As in any research endeavour, there is always a risk that questions will not be understood by respondents or communicated clearly by the surveyor. It is not possible to guarantee 100% comprehension; however, we did take measures to try to make questions clear and precise, and surveyors explained that respondents could ask for clarification if a question was PAGE 26 PAGE 27

16 not understood. We recognize the limitations of this study, but nevertheless expect that it can make an initial and modest contribution towards furthering our understanding of women s political participation in Afghanistan, while future studies can pick up questions that emerge from this study, and gather further qualitative and quantitative data that will add new layers of information to this very important topic. 4. Findings The findings section is divided into five sub-sections: Opinions and Attitudes Towards Women in Politics; Confidence in Elected Women; Voting Patterns and Choice; Political Awareness, Engagement and Civic Education; and, the Campaign Experience of Women Candidates. The findings from this study are presented, in addition to relevant findings from other recent studies that further illuminate the research results. 4.1 Opinions and Attitudes Towards Women in Politics Respondents were asked their views on women s participation in politics. Overwhelmingly, respondents from across the ten provinces are in favour of women acting on the rights granted to them under Afghan and international law to participate in the political sphere. This suggests that women largely have awareness of their rights, and agree already that women should enjoy the right to political participation. This has implications for civic education efforts targeted at women, in that it suggests it may be more important to focus on ways that women can access and realize their political rights, than to merely inform women of these rights. Respondents from Group 1 were asked whether women had a right to take part in elections as voters. Overall, 94% of respondents, all of whom were female, agreed that women have a right to take part in elections. There was no statistically significant regional variation, with the lowest agreement being in Wardak (where 88% of women agree women have the right to take part in elections) and the highest in Bamiyan (where 99.7% agree); however, there is a slightly more notable difference by women s education level, with 16.5% of women who only had primary education expressing that women did not have a right to participate in elections, while all women with education levels higher than a Bachelor s degree agreed that women have this right (and 2.3% of women who had completed high school disagreeing). Interestingly, 100% of women respondents who had no formal education at all agreed that women have this right. It would not be surprising that women who have exercised their right to education would be more likely to favour women exercising their political rights since such women would have been exposed to the benefits of realizing rights and would see the connections between various political, social and economic rights. However, the motivations for supporting women s political rights would be different for women who had not enjoyed the right to education. These women may link their deprivation of education to a deprivation of political rights, or to an absence of women in positions of political authority, given that female respondents in this survey and in other surveys consistently point to improving education for women as a top priority forfemale politicians to pursue Women have the right to participate in elections, by level of education Primary High School Graduate Bachelor Master Post graduate No formal education Total PAGE 28 PAGE 29

17 Also of note are differences among respondents opinions by age: all women under the age of 18 support women s rights to participate in elections, 96.6% of women aged agree, while 87.9% of women aged agree. Married The IEC on Threats Faced by Women Campaigning for Office Threats seem to be from family members who are afraid if the women campaign, or from male candidates and ostensibly religious figures. For example in some provinces messages from mosques have focused on the inaccurate notion that it is not Islamic for women to be involved in political life in any capacity. The speakers attempt to deter men from allowing their female family members to be involved in elections in any way including as voters, candidates or IEC staff. Some male candidates appear to be motivated to deter women from campaigning so they will reduce their number of votes, and therefore these will be received by the men instead. In one case the husband of a female candidate has been killed as a deterrent. - IEC s Women and Elections Issues 2010, p. 3 women were slightly more likely to not support this right (7.6% disagree) than single women (3.9% disagree). Unemployed women were the only group to have a statistically significant percentage (15.5%) who disagree that women have this right, while no police women or self-employed women disagreed. This data shows that overall, women are strongly in favour of the right to political participation; however, there are minor variations between women with differing educational levels and employment status. When asked about their reasons for agreeing with the statement that women have the right to participate in elections, the most often cited reason was simply that both women and men have equal rights (29.4%), or that participating in elections is a woman s basic right (24.7%). It makes sense that women employed in areas where it s unusual for women to work, such as in policing or as business owners, would be particularly supportive of women s political rights; however, most respondents, regardless of employment status, were supportive of political rights. These findings are consistent with other research. A Survey of the Afghan People is an annual opinion poll conducted by The Asia Foundation (TAF) in Afghanistan since 2006, which measures Afghan opinions on a range of issues, including governance, corruption, elections, women s rights and other issues of relevance to the present study. The 2011 TAF survey polled 6,348 Afghan citizens in all 34 provinces. When TAF respondents were read the statement, Everyone should have equal rights under the law, regardless of their gender, ethnicity or religion, 82% of respondents (and 88% of female respondents) country-wide agree with this statement, and 85% agree that men cannot vote in place of women and that women must vote themselves 5. However, TAF s survey found less support for women in positions of political leadership: 45% of men and women agreed that both men and women should have equal representation, with a discrepancy between men s and women s opinions on the issue (61% of women and 33% of men say there should equality in leadership; and 58% of men said leadership positions should be mostly for men ). Nevertheless, most respondents on their survey, with little difference between men and women, were not opposed to being represented by a woman on various representative bodies, including shuras, the parliament, provincial council, district development assembly, or community development council. Returning to the present study, of the 122 women who disagreed that women have this right, the main reason given was that women should be focused on maintaining the home as their first priority, 11.4% said that it is wrong or immoral for women to be leaving their homes for any kind of electoral participation, and 8.2% cited insecurity as a reason. Interestingly, 23.7% of the women who disagreed said that they don t understand what elections are, and therefore would not participate in them, and 10% felt that women do not have the 5 There were slight differences by ethnicity: 92% of Uzbeks, 89% of Tajiks, 88% of Hazaras, 86% of other ethnic groups (86%), and 80% of Pashtuns supported women s right to vote. PAGE 30 PAGE 31

18 When you candidate yourself as an Afghan woman, you are a hero. As women, we are under attack. If we are not now one voice, we will lose the gains made of the last eight years. MPs and civil society need to work closely together to ensure progress. - Unsuccessful female candidate from 2010 parliamentary elections (as reported by the IEC s 2010 report, Getting The Grade? Lessons Learnt on Women s Participation in the 2010 Afghan Parliamentary Elections) capacity or reason to participate in elections. This suggests a greater need for basic civic education targeted at women, beginning with simply explaining the purpose and process of elections, as well as addressing false notions that women voting is immoral, which would be linked to the broader habit of restricting women to the private sphere, and banning them from the public sphere. Therefore, women s mobility rights and access to public space are inherently linked to political rights. The accusation of immorality is a ploy often used by male rivals against female candidates, who are acutely aware of the implications of accusing an Afghan woman of immoral behaviour. FEFA observers reported in a single province, Badakhshan, nine instances of clerics publicly accusing women candidates of being prostitutes and apostates accusations that can cause grave physical risks for women in Afghanistan and calling on their congregations to vote only for men. FEFA reported similar incidents in Badghis, Kunar and Takhar provinces. Some targeted candidates said they believed mullahs in their areas were paid by male candidates to turn the electorate against women politicians. Slanderous letters about women candidates distributed in Faryab, Takhar and Sar-e Pul provinces were also believed to be the work of rivals exploiting discriminatory attitudes about women for po- litical gain (2010, pp.5-6). FEFA was dissatisfied with efforts by the ECC and the police to seriously investigate such incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice. Respondents from Group 1 were asked whether they would ever consider running as a candidate in any kind of election. Interestingly, a surprisingly high proportion, 46%, said they would consider running, and 77.86% of those respondents said they would do so in the interests of serving women. This does not imply that respondents seriously intend to run, but that they can imagine themselves running for office, or that they think they could be capable of candidating themselves, suggesting a high degree of self-confidence in women s political capacity and a commitment to the notion that women have should have the right to run in elections. 4.2 Confidence in Elected Women Afghan citizens have adjusted over the past decade to the presence of women in politics. This section looks at what the female citizens surveyed think of the track record to date of women in office. Since the first elections in 2004, the proportion of women in government has steadily risen. For instance, in the second provincial council elections in 2009, there was a 20% increase in the number of women who ran for a seat (in the first council elections, too few women ran and three of the quota seats for women were given up to men)6 and in the 2010 parliamentary elections, 33% more women ran for seats than in 2005, despite the higher demands mentioned earlier placed on candidates such as tripling of the registration fee amount. This resulted in 69 women being elected into parliament, including 56 who were re-elected. Twelve were elected without the help of the quota, a decrease from the 2005 elections. An important measure of the legitimacy of public institutions of governance, like the elections system, parliament, police and military, and government ministries, is citizens confidence in PAGE 32 PAGE 33

19 those individuals elected into office. When respondents were asked about the roles of women in parliament, there were highly mixed opinions assessing how elected women have used their time in parliament, as shown in Table 4.2. In the TAF 2011 survey, male and female respondents were also asked about the most important responsibility of their members of parliament. Responses included firstly that MPs most important job is to make laws for the good of the country (33%), to listen to constituents and represent their needs (29%), and to deliver jobs or development (26%). The Heinrich Böll Stiftung study (2009) focusing on Afghanistan s parliament elected in 2005 found three primary motives cited most often by female MPs in both houses: serving Afghan women, serving the people and the nation, and reasons related to personal backgrounds and specific interests (such as having a political family background). Overall, in this study, respondents were confident that women s presence at executive levels of government would have a positive impact for women: 76% of respondents said that the greater the presence of female cabinet members in government, the more effective the government would be. Many respondents felt that female education was a top priority, and that more women in government would lead to greater emphasis on women s access to education. Of those women 5 There were slight differences by ethnicity: 92% of Uzbeks, 89% of Tajiks, 88% of Hazaras, 86% of other ethnic groups (86%), and 80% of Pashtuns supported women s right to vote. who were less confident that women in the cabinet would make any difference, the reasons given were that women were not capable to take on these positions (47%), women were simply too discriminated against to be effective (36%), or that women would not be given enough authority to make a difference (17%). Looking at patterns of confidence among the citizenry more broadly throughout the country, The Asia Foundation s Survey of the Afghan People (2011) suggests that confidence varies significantly across different governance institutions; however, overall it has risen particularly for representative institutions such as shuras and provincial councils. For instance, 67% have confidence in the provincial councils, 62% are confident in the parliament, 62% in the public administration, What do You Most Expect from Elected Women Representatives? - Provide education for women: 42% - Provide work opportunities for women: 25% - Provide greater opportunity for women s political participation: 19% - Protect women from harm and from human rights violations: 14% 59% in the Independent Elections Commission, 56% in government ministers, 55% in the government justice system, 55% in their municipality, and 47% in political parties. Most of these figures have risen each year that the survey was conducted, beginning in Satisfaction in the performance of the central government is relatively high, at 73%. This supports the notion that as democratic institutions become more established, following a phase of growing pains, public faith in such institutions increases. Respondents in the TAF survey in all regions also emphasized women s education as a priority area, with lack of education and/or illiteracy most often cited as the biggest problem faced by PAGE 34 PAGE 35

20 women, consistently every year since The Asia Foundation s survey also reports that 70% of Afghans agree with the statement, The parliament is addressing the major problems of people in our country and 59% agree with the statement, my MP is addressing the major problems of my constituency in the parliament, while 39% disagree with this statement. With regards to the 2010 parliamentary elections, TAF respondents were fairly equally divided on the question of whether the elections were free and fair. 4.3 Voting Patterns and Choice In Afghanistan s 2010 parliamentary elections, 2,500 candidates ran for office, including 410 women (up from 335 women who ran in the 2005 parliamentary elections). Under the country s electoral law, 68 seats are reserved for female candidates. In the Wolesi Jirga in 2010, 14.5% of MPs were newly elected women, while 13.3% were previously elected female MPs. In total, women represent 27.8% of Wolesi Jirga (lower house) members7. In the 2010 elections, there were female candidates in every province, with 18 provinces seeing an increase in the number of female candidates (including several highly insecure provinces such as Kandahar and Nuristan), and 13 seeing a decrease. The greatest increase was in Kabul province, which had 105 candidates (up from 50 in 2005).8 Elections in post-taliban Afghanistan have been complex undertakings. Planning for elections demands intensive planning around security threats and involves addressing the logistical needs of a large electorate across a geographically, ethnically and linguistically diverse country of 34 provinces % of Wolesi Jirga MPs following the September 2010 elections are newly elected male members, while 22.5% are previously elected male members. Most of the electorate is illiterate and poor, and many Afghans had never experienced an election in their own country in their lifetime, until The elections held to date are entirely funded by foreign donors, with, for example, the 2010 parliamentary elections alone costing an estimated USD$300 million. Fraud has been a persistent concern. In the 2010 elections, the IEC originally aimed to open 6,835 polling centers, including 5,897 polling centres with stations for women specifically; however, at least 900 were closed due to security concerns prior to the elections. The IEC needed to place at least two women in each of those centres to facilitate women s voting, and struggled to recruit enough women, a problem that also occurred in 2005 and Female body searchers are required for each centre, since there are not enough female police officers throughout the country to check women voters, and too few female body searchers were provided too late in the 2010 elections. 8 Some have suggested that this is due in part to insecurity in many regions causing some women to run in Kabul rather than in their home province. 9 By comparison, voter turnout in France s 2007 parliamentary elections was 60%, 62% in El Salvador s 2009 presidential elections, 10 73% in the 2010 parliamentary elections of the Philippines, 52% in Slovakia s 2009 presidential elections, 91% in Tajikistan s 2010 parliamentary elections, and 41% in the USA s 2010 parliamentary elections. See cfm?countrycode=af PAGE 36 PAGE 37

21 Overall, voter turnout nationally for the 2010 parliamentary elections was estimated at 45.83%9 (with 4.42% of votes rendered invalid), including 39% voter turnout among women. This is up from 38.8% in the 2009 presidential and provincial council elections, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA),10 but down overall from previous elections. There has been a consistent decline in voter turnout since the first elections held in 2004, which Lough et al (2012) attribute to to a combination of growing insecurity, dissatisfaction with Karzai s first year in office and election fatigue. The IEC reported that 7.4 million voters turned out for the 2004 presidential elections, 6.4 million voters in the first parliamentary and provincial council elections (2005), 4.8 million in the 2009 presidential elections, and 3.6 million in the 2010 parliamentary elections. Thus, there was a decline of some 36% between the 2004 and 2009 presidential elections, and a decline of 44% between the 2005 and 2010 parliamentary elections. These declines are significant, and may be attributed to various possible factors, including declining security, declining confidence in the legitimacy of the elections (particularly amidst the context of the fraud-marred 2009 presidential elections), and logistical challenges such as the locations of polling stations. Of respondents in this study, 77.2% voted in the most recent elections, which were the 2010 parliamentary elections. Voter turnout among the female respondents was highest in Kandahar, and lowest in Wardak. The higher rate of voter turnout among these respondents than among the general population may be attributed to the districts sampled, to respondents saying they had voted when they did not, or to the households who agreed to be surveyed being households more open to women voting, or to a combination of these reasons. In the present study, voter turnout was strongly correlated with educational level, being highest among the female respondents with the highest education levels. There was no statistically significant difference between married and single women, and limited difference by age, with the highest voter turnout being among women aged (81.5%) and lowest among women aged (71.7%). Of note is that among different occupations, policewomen had the highest voter turn-out at 100%, followed by government employees (84.7%). Of those who didn t vote, the reason most often given by women for not voting was they did not have a voting card (67.5%). Other reasons included not being allowed to vote by family members (21.9%) or that the polling station was located too far away from their homes (10.6%). Afghan Opinions on Democracy In order to ascertain whether Afghans think they will gain any perceptible benefits from the introduction of democracy to the country, respondents were asked to identify the most important thing that democracy in Afghanistan will bring them personally. They were allowed to give more than one response. Forty-three percent of respondents identify peace and a similar proportion say freedom (42%) as the greatest personal benefits they expect from democracy. These responses highlight the expectation of many Afghans that the consolidation of democracy will bring freedom, peace and prosperity. - A Survey of the Afghan People (2011), The Asia Foundation PAGE 38 PAGE 39

22 BAMYAN In the last parliamentary elections (Sep- Percentage of respondents by province who voted in the previous elections tember 2010), of those BADAKHSHAN who voted, 55.2% of BALKH KABUL KAPISA respondents voted for KUNDUZ KANDAHAR WARDAK a female candidate, NANGARHAR HERAT with regional differences among the 10 provinces surveyed (see Table 4.3). The data showed that there was a higher likelihood that educated women voted for female candidates, with a notable increase between the level of undergraduate and graduate education. The likelihood that women voted for a female candidate was highest among the 45 and above age group (79.6%), increasing with the age of the respondents, which is interesting because this contrasts with the finding that women in higher age categories (especially aged 36-45) were somewhat less likely to support the notion that women have the right to vote in elections, than younger women. Among 18-year-olds who voted, only 25.4% voted for a female candidate. Married women were somewhat more likely to vote for a female candidate over a male candidate: 63.1% of married women voted for female candidates while 43.5% of single women voted for female candidates. Among the different occupations, police women were most likely to vote for a female candidate (92.3%), followed by NGO employees (75.3%), government employees (58.9%), students (53.3%), self-employed women (47.1%), and housewives (41.7%). Of those women who voted for female candidates, 60.14% stated that the candidate they voted for was elected. When asked why they voted for a female candidate, 71.8% of those who voted for women said they felt female politicians would do a better job representing women s interests. Of those who voted for men, the vast majority (79.3%) said they did so because they had a connection to the candidate, such as the candidate being a relative or the candidate their family had chosen to vote for. This suggests that women are susceptible to the influence of family members in choosing a candidate and it would appear that family relations or patronage networks are more likely to be used as criteria for candidate preference when the candidate is a male. Other women who voted for male candidates said they did so on account of the candidate s merit. Other research backs up the finding that voting choice in Afghanistan is often subject to voting in blocks according to family or community alignments with a candidate. FEFA (2010) has found that when families arrive to vote together at a polling station, this facilitates the coercion of women voters by men, and their observers witnessed this occurring in nearly a quarter of all polling centres. When the 2011 TAF survey asked respondents whether, if women vote, they should PAGE 40 PAGE 41

23 11 The Asia Foundation reports that, respondents view on women s independence in voting also correlate with their views regarding whether women should be allowed to work outside home. For example, 62% of respondents who think women should be allowed to work outside the home also say that women should decide how to vote for themselves. On the other hand, 45% of those who think women should not be allowed to work outside the home also think that men should advise them on how to vote (2011, p.164). decide for themselves how to vote or whether they should receive advice from men, 51% (and 58% of women and 45% of men) said women should decide for themselves, 28% said men should advise them, and 21% said women should decide for themselves but in consultation with men, demonstrating that nearly half felt that men should somehow be involved in women s voting choices11. Their survey also asked male and female respondents to what extent they agree or disagree with the statement, A person should vote the way his or her community votes, not how they feel individually, the majority of respondents (56%) agreed with this statement, while 42% say that voting should be a matter of individual choice, demonstrating an interesting split in views from Afghans on this subject, and a split which may be changing over time as experience with elections and d mocracy grows. Notably, there was significant regional variation in responses to this question12, as well as a gradual decrease in agreement with the statement from previous survey years. Further, of those TAF respondents who said that the 2010 parliamentary elections were not free and fair (46%), the reasons given included that men voted on behalf of women (7%) or that husbands did not allow their wives to vote (4%). This demonstrates a keen awareness that women s votes were manipulated for fraud in recent elections, a perception that is backed by evidence uncovered at many polling stations in In fact, the IEC reported that in the 2010 parliamentary elections, fake voter registration cards were most often found to be in women s names and men often used women s cards to vote, a trend facilitated by the fact that most women s registration cards do not have photographs on them. FEFA has called women s voter registration card lacking photos a serious problem, and notes that, though current regulations do not require women to have photos on their registration cards, the practice of handing out essentially blank voter cards for women increases opportunities for women s cards to be used fraudulently on Election Day and frustrates efforts to accurately disaggregate voter turnout by gender later on (2010, p. 9). This suggests that women s participation has been exploited to some extent, with women losing control over their voting rights as some voters manipulate female votes. Research conducted by AREU (Lough et al, 2012) that looked at women s participation in elections held between 2004 and 2010, found that while it was rare for women to be forced to vote for someone else s chosen candidate, women were often excluded from the political conversations of men in their homes 12 In the TAF survey (2011), more than 60% of respondents agree that people should vote the way the community votes in the East (68%), South West (63%) and Central/Hazarajat (61%) regions, and the majority say the same in the South East (57%), North East (57%) and North West (55%). The majority in the West (52%), however, say that voting should be a matter of personal choice and 48% say the same in the Central/Kabul region. PAGE 42 PAGE 43

24 that might help them to become informed in selecting a candidate to vote for, as well as being excluded from broader community dialogue focused on politics. AREU s research (2012) also noted that female candidates in both PC and parliamentary elections relied on a combination of resources, including qawm13, ethnicity and family relations, in securing votes. 4.4 Political Awareness, Engagement and Civic Education When asked whether they could name a female parliamentarian from their region, 82% of the study s respondents said they could, and 33% of respondents said they had had contact with an elected representative in their region at least once, by either telephone, in person, through family connections, or they had seen the representative in person at an event or meeting. This is slightly higher than the Asia Foundation s 2011 survey, which found for the national average, 15% of women (and 24% of men) had ever contacted their MP for assistance. Their survey also found that respondents who lived in villages were twice as likely as respondents in urban areas to make contact with their MP, and that twice as many respondents had contacted their MP for help in solving problems in 2011 than in previous years (going back to 2006). This suggests that citizens are making more use of their elected representatives, and are increasingly likely to turn to an MP for help in solving a problem.14 Fewer people contacted their Provincial Council member for assistance in the same period; however, contact with Council members had also risen substantially from previous years. Men were also more likely to have contacted a Provincial Council member than women. Research by AREU (Lough et al, 2012) found that female vot- ers had access to the opportunity to vote, and understood the process of voting. Women in their study viewed elections as a particularly positive experience that led to greater selfconfidence and affirmed their rights under the law. However, they also found that not all women had access to the opportunity to vote, often due to insecurity. For instance, in the 2009 elections, 5% of women s stations did not open, representing some 650 stations, besides other stations (serving men) that did not open due to security concerns. Since many women would not be willing, or would not be permitted to vote in a station with male staff only, this would have denied some women their right to vote. Considering that some women surveyed in the present study indicated that they did not support women s participation in elections because of issues of morality extending from women going outside the home, or wanting to observe the seclusion of women to the private sphere, making the voting process gender segregated at this stage in Afghanistan s political development would be an enabling factor to encourage Afghanistan s Electoral Law The Electoral Law was first adopted in The Law determines the manner of electoral administration, constituencies, voters, and candidate eligibility, registration for all election processes (presidential, national assembly, provincial and district councils), and initially established the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). In 2010, President Karzai issued a decree that brought 132 amendments to the Electoral Law, eradicating the independent ECC. The decree was later rejected by the Wolesi Jirga, but stalled in the Meshrano Jirga. However, the amended version ultimately came into effect in August The changes brought to the law in 2010 negatively impact female candidates. Besides raising the fee demanded of candidates, a new stipulation was introduced that should a woman s seat be vacated midterm, it could be filled by man if there were no female candidates. PAGE 44 PAGE 45

25 women s participation, notwithstanding the acknowledgement that some women will simply never be allowed to leave home to vote even within segregated stations. 4.5 The Campaign Experience of Female Candidates The average female political candidate tends to be significantly more highly educated compared to the general population. The candidates are also generally young; however, this does reflect the general population. Indeed, demographically Afghanistan is an extremely young population, with 65% of Afghans are under the age of 24 years, according to the United Nations Population Division. Table 4.4 shows the ages of elected participants and Table 4.5 shows the ages of unelected participants. Of the elected women, 22.4% were married before the age of 18, while all other elected participants were married between the ages of 18 and 25, and 49% had Political Participation and Personal Efficacy in Afghanistan Personal efficacy refers to the degree of influence people think someone like them can have over government decisions through participation in political processes (both formal and informal). More than half (53%) of respondents say they feel they can have a significant degree of influence over government decisions, including 15% who say a lot of influence and 38% saying some influence. Around a quarter (23%) say they cannot have any influence at all. - Survey of the Afghan People (2011), The Asia Foundation between one and three children; while 51% had between 4 and 6 children. Of the unelected participants, 76% of them were married, and a lower percentage were married before the age of 18 (15.5%), with 31% married between the ages of 19 and 25, 51% married between the ages of 26 and 35, and 2.2% were married after the age of Age Ages of Elected Candidates 33 Age Age Age Age Age Age 56 + Ages of Unelected Candidates Age Age 46 + Percent Percent Of the women who were elected into office in the last elections, a high proportion (86.5%) indicated that their husbands were in agreement with their decision to campaign and viewed it positively. Forty-two percent said their families in general supported them during their campaign. For unelected women, a lower number reported positive support from husbands: 64%. A husband who was unsupportive or who disagreed with a candidate s decision to campaign may have impacted that candidates success in that the campaigning options available to her were more narrow. For instance, she may have had reduced mobility during the campaign, or have been unable to campaign in forums where men were present. It is interesting that there are still women who ran as both successful and unsuccessful candidates without the support Women parliamentarians feel themselves predominantly responsible to the people, their constituents, and their clientele without explicitly referring to their female constituency. Support for their work as a parliamentarian derives mainly from their personal private networks (family / qawm), community leaders, constituents, and civil society organizations. - Afghanistan s Parliament in the Making (2009), p. 98 PAGE 46 PAGE 47

26 of their husbands. Given the centrality of family in Afghan culture and indeed, in Afghan politics, it would entail the risk of ostracism and even violence, to go against a husband s wishes. These findings suggest that understanding more about the role of family dynamics in female candidacy could yield information about the factors that go into women s decisionmaking over candidacy vis-à-vis navigating familial gatekeepers and negotiating power within the household. When asked the main reason why they chose to run, most elected women indicated that it was to strengthen women s political participation, and ensure that women were represented politically (75.5%), while a smaller number gave answers that suggested it was to serve all people (25.5%). For unelected women, the reasons were reversed: 34% stated that strengthening women s political participation and ensuring that women were represented politically was their main reason for running. This is noteworthy and suggests that women who advocate a women s equity platform may have greater appeal to female voters, over candidates who try to appeal to the male and female population on a broader, less gender-specific platform. When asked the main challenge they faced in running for office, 40.8% of elected women and 32.6% of unelected women stated it was social and cultural constraints, 36.7% of elected women and 32.6% of unelected women gave insecurity as the main challenge, and 22.5% of elected women and 34.7% of unelected women gave financial constraints as the main challenge. Of all elected candidates, 32.7% stated having faced some form of security challenges during their campaign, almost all of whom stated that threats were the main security challenge. None of the unelected candidates in Bamiyan or Badakhshan cited insecurity as a challenge to their campaign, with Wardak and Kunduz being the provinces where unelected candidates were most likely to cite insecurity as a challenge. From the above, it appears that unelected women were somewhat more likely to be concerned about financial constraints than elected women, suggesting that inadequate access to financial resources may have been a factor in their campaign losses. Further, more unelected women than elected women stated that their financial resources for their campaigns were inadequate: 60.9% of unelected women said their resources were inadequate, compared to 49% of elected women. Of elected women, 36.7% stated that they relied on their families to help finance their campaigns. Elected candidates in Herat, Kunduz and Nangargar were the most likely to say they had sufficient financial resources than other provinces. Meanwhile, none of the elected candidates in Bamiyan, Balkh, Parwan, and Ghazni felt that their campaign resources were sufficient, while in Kabul it was nearly split equally, with four elected candidates saying their resources were sufficient and five saying they were insufficient. Candidates older than age 36 were slightly more likely to say their financial resources were sufficient, with the age group being the most likely to have insufficient campaign resources. Among unelected candidates, those with less education (high school only or primary school only) were more likely (50%) to cite financial constraints than those with university education. PAGE 48 PAGE 49

27 Most elected candidates (67.7%) felt that they enjoyed generally positive support from the media, and even more unelected candidates were positive about the media s role in their campaign. It is unclear why this is so, but suggests that positive media coverage may have not played a decisive role in candidates success. Other factors may have carried more leverage, such as family ties, access to resources, or face-to-face appeals to the electorate. There was surprisingly little contact, as reported by elected candidates, between women s organizations and candidates, I want to be a voice for women. Because there was about 30 years, 31 years that women didn t have any voice. I think we have to change the situation for women and I want to be a member for that reason. - Naheed Ahmedia Farid, age 24, 2010 parliamentary candidate, Heart (as reported by ABC News, September 17, 2010 with only 36.7% of elected candidates saying they were in contact with women s organizations, and 98% of elected candidates saying that civil society did not have a major role to play in supporting female candidates. None of the elected candidates in Nangarhar, Balkh, Parwan, Kapisa, Kandahar or Herat reported being in contact with women s organizations, while all elected candidates from Wardak, Logar, Bamiyan, and Ghazni did so. Kabul s candidates were split, with five out of nine saying they were in contact with women s organizations. The youngest age group of candidates (age 18 to 25) were the most likely to be in contact with women s organizations. This differs somewhat from the findings of another study from Afghanistan which found that the overall majority of female MPs state that cooperation with civil society organizations is part of their parliamentary work, and a significant number declare being supported by civil society organizations in their political efforts (Fleschenberg, 2009, p.94). Candidates may rely more on civil society groups postelection, when they are working within the parliament, rather than during their campaigns. However, most elected women (83.7%) reported the involvement of religious figures in their campaigns, suggesting that these stakeholders hold more leverage to political campaigns than civil society organizations, in the view of candidates. Indeed, research carried out by the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan found that smear campaigns by religious figures could prove disastrous for female candidates, killing their chances of being elected. In Afghanistan, reputation embodies a person s moral stature as much or more so than it does one s professional capacities and experience. Religious figures such as mullahs may be key allies to make in securing reputation, though this may vary by local context. Of unelected Yes No Did you reach out to religious figures within the scope of your campaign? Elected Candidates candidates, fewer (62%) reported positive support from religious figures, which 20.0 may have been a factor Maidan Logar Kabul Nengarhar Bamyan Badakhshan Balkh Parwan Ghazni Kapisa Kundoz Kandahar Herat in their failure to be elected. All of the elected candidates with education up the primary level and the group with education up to the high school level reached out to religious figures, while 79% of the university-educated elected candidates reported reaching out to religious figures. Every candidate over the age of 46 reached out to religious figures, with this being slightly less likely among the younger candidates PAGE 50 PAGE 51

28 Did you reach out to religious figures within the scope of your campaign? Unelected Candidates Kundoz Kabul Logar Kandahar Kapisa Bamyan Herat Maidan Nengarhar Badakhshan Yes No All unelected candidates in the study from Parwan, Wardak and Nangarhar expressed that they felt they had the support of religious figures during their campaigns. Kandahar, Kapisa, Bamiyan and Herat were the only provinces where fewer than 50% of unelected candidates stated they had the support of religious figures. Of the three unelected candidates with a graduate level university education, none expressed having support from religious figures. When asked the main reason why they believed they were elected, those women elected primarily said my experience and reputation (98%). Elected women were divided over pri- One night I was in Band-e Amir and had a friendly meeting with some of the women who had come there. It was very interesting for me because they spoke very openly and frankly about their problems. And what really touched me is that they told me that they used not to even be allowed to go out for worship or other things. But now when they ask something, men do not oppose it, they say since we have a female governor, you are also allowed to go out. I realized that some women are using this opportunity very positively. - Habiba Sarabi (2005), Governor of Bamiyan & Afghanistan s first female governor orities for their political platforms, with half stating that insecurity was a priority area to address, and half saying that improving women s rights was their main priority. The vast majority (83.7%) felt that women s participation in the political sphere was weak, as compared to men s. For unelected women, it appears that few were deterred from trying again in the future: 85.7% stated that they plan to run again in future elections, and 100% of those unelected candidates age 35 and under stated they would try to run again. This is an encouraging sign that, despite the many challenges, Afghan women remain motivated to realize their right to political participation, and committed to using the democratic system as a means to find a political voice. From this section, it is evident that women running for office must seek to build alliances with a diverse array of stakeholders, from husbands to external family networks, and mullahs, the media, and of course, to a diverse male and female electorate. Women candidates must find ways to communicate their platforms to an electorate that is usually much less educated than they are, and who have manifold needs in a country where poverty is rampant and conflict rages on. Many factors come into play in navigating this ever complex political environment. As Lough et al (2012) found in their study of female candidates in Afghanistan, whether they won or lost was attributable to a combination of their individual and family backgrounds, the resources they were able to access, the techniques they employed on the campaign trail, and how these factors related to the specific political and social dynamics at play in their communities and provinces. Afghanistan is in a state in transition, where the means of gaining political power that worked during the chaos and fractionalization of the civil war period, such as nurturing patronage networks, co-exist (and sometimes clash) with nascent democratic institutions. Women have re-entered the political PAGE 52 PAGE 53

29 An essential tenet of any democratic framework is the principle of human rights, including the granting and exercise of the political rights of both men and women. The development of any political agenda that does not incude the perspectives, views and experiences of those who will be affected is not credible. - Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers (2005). sphere after a prolonged exclusion, and are seeking to make themselves aheard in this evolving political space. They will likely make increasing gains as they garner more and more experience, learning what strategies work and how to preserve their hard fought for political power. 5. Conclusion and Recommendations Afghan women are largely convinced that they should have the right to participate in elections. They support women who run for office, and want those women to fight for their rights, especially the right to education. They have a high degree of confidence in elected women, and value their right to vote. However, that vote has not manifested for all women, and a small number of women are ambiguous or unsupportive of women s political participation. This no doubt has much to do with the opinions and attitudes of others in their lives, including male family members, community leaders, and religious figures. Other women simply do not know what elections are about. Women also have security concerns that deter political participation, concerns that are very valid in the present tense atmosphere in which Afghan politics plays out. Fraud marked the past two elections of 2009 and 2010, and voter turnout in those elections was low. There are challenges around women s registration cards, women s access to polling stations, and the need for far more female IEC staff at all levels: as civic educators and outreach workers, and as polling staff. Thus, the work of advocating for women s political participation is far from finished. As a new democracy, and one with a tormented and painful history of political factionalization and violence, information, skills and knowledge that can support equitable political participation will be needed far into the future. Civic education that emphasizes women s equal political rights must become a priority for the Afghan Government, and the absence of civic education in the curricula of all levels of the basic education system is a glaring omission that fails to serve the citizens of an aspiring democracy. The Afghan Government should address this need, and other opportunities to entrench democratic culture and good citizenship, if it is serious about achieving political stability and about building a state where the human capital potential of women is well mobilized. This study s findings and our review of other recent studies of women s political participation in Afghanistan has led to the following set of targeted recommendations. The needs to strengthen women s political participation are numerous, but we have opted here to focus on what we consider the most strategic opportunities to invest in women s capacity to make change in Afghanistan through political engagement and leadership. Our recommendations are addressed to four groups of stakeholders: the Government of Afghanistan, the IEC, Afghan NGOs, international civil society and the donor community involved in political participation agendas, and to the research community wishing to further explore this topic. 5.1 Recommendation to the Government of Afghanistan 1. Introduce civic education into the basic education curricula for both primary and secondary levels. PAGE 54 PAGE 55

30 Significantly for a country with a brand new democracy, no attempts were made to offer civics classes in Ministry of Education-run schools - Lough et al (2012), Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit, p Ensure all female candidates in elections have the opportunity to attend a workshop on electoral procedures, and disseminate printed handbooks on electoral procedures. 3. As recommended by the IEC following the 2009 presidential election, improve gender-responsive security planning, monitoring and reporting, in particular, setting up a central system for collating threats, and incidents to/by female voters, candidates, and staff. 4. Pursue full prosecution in the courts against those charged with threatening or harming female voters and candidates in all elections, to counter impunity for such acts which deter women s full participation. In light of the widespread intimidation and harassment aimed at women during the 2010 elections, an inclusive approach to electoral security planning is needed for future elections, including individual security assessments for all candidates well in advance of the next campaign season. The electoral institutions and security agencies should also cooperate to ensure the timely reporting, investigation and punishment of election-related threats against women. - FEFA Briefing, Women & Afghanistan s Parliamentary Elections 2010, p Recommendations to the Independent Elections Commission 1. Ensure that there are a sufficient number of female elections workers recruited in all elections so that all polling centres have women s stations, and increase the number of female civic educators to 50%.primary and secondary levels. Another problem during the registration process was the widespread shortage of women election workers at the nomination centers. These shortages, reported by FEFA observers at 31 centers out of 34, caused administrative delays for women registering as candidates. - FEFA Briefing, Women & Afghanistan s Parliamentary Elections 2010, p.4 2. All voter registration cards, for both men and women, should include photos of the registrant to prevent electoral fraud, and all voter names, photos and other data should be recorded in a digital database managed by the IEC. 3. Make ballot sheets more simplified, so as to be better understood by illiterate voters, including having candidate images reproduced more clearly and party and candidate logos more distinctive and legible. 4. Considering that in the 2010 elections, 27,000 women made use of the IEC s electoral information hotline (190), this service should be included in all future elections and activated well in advance of elections. 5. As recommended by FEFA, work with the Electoral Media Commission to create a set of clear guidelines for identifying and sanctioning hate speech against women, and all candidates, and to increase all candidates awareness of the rules. 5.3 Recommendations to the Development, Afghan Civil Society and Donor Community 1. Support basic voter public education messages that de- PAGE 56 PAGE 57

31 scribe processes like voting and explain the purpose of elections, using varied media such as billboards, television spots, theatre, workshops, and posters. Begin gender-sensitive civic education efforts, whether targeted at men or at women, well in advance of elections as previous efforts have proven to be ineffective when done hurriedly just prior to elections, failing to reach many voters. Another area requiring major reform is educating all major stakeholder groups about their roles and responsibilities during the election process. By stakeholder groups I mean candidates, their supporters, public officials (national, provincial and district level; police, border police, governors, army, etc., ministry officials particularly at the provincial and district level). One of the major reasons for electoral violations was that many of the people within these stakeholder groups didn t have even a basic level of knowledge about the process itself. - Grant Kippen, former head of Electoral Complaints Commission, Afghanistan 2. Design information dissemination methods specifically targeting women, considering the ways in which women are most likely to be able to access information. Information and media should also target illiterate women through visual and oral messages, and should be ready for dis semination well in advance of elections. 3. Investigate ways to work with mullahs to spread messages in support of women s political participation and ensure that mullahs are aware of Islam-based principles that support women s political participation, since the IEC reports that many uneducated and educated mullahs preach against women s political participation. 4. Civic education efforts need to target men as much as women, so men are exposed to messages emphasizing women s rights to political participation. 5. Ensure quality monitoring systems for civic education efforts, eval ating the impact of various approaches to civic education so that best practices can be scaled up and replicated using evidence-based models. 15. Ensure that international elections observers include 50% female observers. 6. Continue to fund, support, and capacity build Afghan elections monitors, including a sufficient proportion of female monitors. Training should include gender-sensitive monitoring techniques, as well as how to respond to security threats against female candidates and voters. 7. Support the Afghan media s capacity to undertake gendersensitive and rights-centred reporting, as well as their capacity to cover allegations of electoral fraud, attacks on women s rights to political participation, and efforts by male gatekeepers (such as mullahs, male candidates, or local power holders) to undermine women s fair and equitable access to the political sphere. 8 Recommendations for Suggested Future Research Directions 18. Examine women s political participation as measured by freedom of expression. To what degree do women feel free to express political opinions? What are inhibiting factors to their freedom of expression? 9. Assess which forms of information and media, and which outreach activities, are most likely to reach women, and most effective in their messaging. 20. Assess effective means of challenging male opinions opposed to women s political participation. 10. Explore opinions and attitudes, and their origins, towards women s political participation espoused by the clergy in Afghanistan. 11. Investigate women s relationships to partisan politics. For instance, how many female MPs are members of political parties? What is the female membership of Afghanistan s political parties? How does the SNTV electoral system impact women s roles in political parties? 12. Undertake further detailed study of the role of family dynamics in female candidacy, such as identifying factors in women s decision-making over candidacy vis-à-vis navigating familial gatekeepers and negotiating power within the household. PAGE 58 PAGE 59

32 REFERENCES Amiri, Ali & Abdul Jamal Benish (2010). The First Experience: Voting Patterns and Political Alignments in the Wolesi Jirga 2005 to Afghanistan Watch. Experience%5bVoting_Patterns_and_Political_Alignments_ in_wolesi_ Jirga%282005_2010%29%5d_English.pdf Asia Foundation, The. (2011). A Survey of the Afghan People. The Asia Foundation. pdf Esfandiari, Golnaz (September 23, 2005). Afghanistan: RFE/ RL Speaks With Country s First Woman Governor. Radio Free Europe. Fleschenberg, Andrea (2009). Afghanistan s Parliament in the Making. Kabul: Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (2010). FEFA Brief: Women and Afghanistan s 2010 Parliamentary Elections. Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, Gender Unit (2010). Getting The Grade? Lessons Learnt on Women s Participation in the 2010 Afghan Parliamentary Elections. A report from a workshop convened on November 7th 2010 by the Afghan Independent Election Commission Gender Unit with support from civil society. IEC & UNIFEM (2010). One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Lessons Learnt on Women s Participation in the 2009 Afghan Elections. IEC Afghanistan. one_step_forward_two_steps_back.pdf IEC (2010). Briefing sheet: Gender & Elections Issues elections.pdf International IDEA (2005). Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers. Stockholm: International IDEA. Lough, O. Echavez, C., Bayat, F.A., Amini, F. Kohistani, M., Husseini, R.G., & Hus- sein, Z. (2012). Equal Rights, Unequal Opportunities: Women s Participation in Afghanistan s Parliamentary and Provincial Council Elections. Kabul: Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU). Mojumdar, Aunohita (March 3, 2010). Afghanistan: President Karzai Modifying Election Law in His Favor. EurasiaNet eav030410a.shtml UNIFEM Afghanistan (2010). Women and Political Participation Fact Sheet. factsheet/10/political.html_ Verba, S. and Nie, N. H. (1972). Participation in America: Politi PAGE 60 PAGE 61

33 Till now, these reports have been published by WCLRF Report On Women Political Participation In Afghanistan Year