ONLINE MODEL UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DIALOGUE Afghanistan THE QUESTION OF AFGHANISTAN: EMPOWERING WOMEN TO COMBAT TERRORISM IN AFGHANISTAN By Irene Ann Promodh (Assistant Director), Sophie Chen (Deputy Secretary General) and Brian Lain (Officer) at International Affairs Dialogue
INTRODUCTION Afghanistan, in the heart of the prosperous Trans-Eurasian trade network along with its rich landscape and natural resources, had been subject to conquests of powerful Eurasian Empires. Hoping to increase its communist ideological influence in the Middle East, the Soviet Union invaded the area in December of 1979. In the years following, fighting between the communist government, anti-communist groups, the Sunni Islamic Taliban fundamentalists, and the international forces led by the United States commenced. The opposition religious branch of the Sunni Muslims, the Shia Hazaras Muslims, were also persecuted in the process. Even though the Afghan War ended with peace talks on a democratically elected government and a new constitution, hatred between opposition groups persisted. Such hatred often transforms into fatal terrorist attacks that destabilize the area, perpetrated by the Taliban and Islamic State extremists even with their influence diminished. As the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 1996, the Islamic fundamentalist group attempts to enforce their version of the Sharia Law, or Islamic principles developed more than a millennium ago. From the Taliban s perspectives, being born as a female is a crime, thus inferior to men. As a result, their rights to work, education, healthcare, participate in government, wear revealing clothing, leave the house without a male chaperone and many others were denied. Disobeying such rules may also result in unethical punishments such as stoning, beating and honor killings, a ritual that kills women to preserve honor for the family. Even after the end of the Taliban regime in 2001, the remnants of Taliban rule still plague Afghanistan s stability and its citizen s human rights, especially in rural areas, through terrorist attacks and persisting discrimination against women. But what relationship exists between empowering women and reducing the impacts of terrorism? As mentioned, terrorist groups such as the Taliban targeted women specifically to victimize them. These dehumanizing conditions often force women into the path of joining terrorist groups such as the Taliban instead of reintegrating into the mainstream society. By destroying the social fabrication of communities, the oppressed groups such as women often ended up as potential terrorist recruits while seeking methods to overcome poverty and gain greater power. These are all examples of unfulfilled promises terrorist recruiters make to take advantage of women s vulnerability due to oppression. In contrast, when we empower women and embrace them in mainstream society, many will not be drawn to false terrorist recruiting propaganda. For example, when women and girls have their rights to receive an education, they have a better chance of getting a job and making a living rather than being trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty that puts them in a state of vulnerability. As women empowerment have an interconnected relationship with combating terrorism, any negotiations with terrorist groups should not carry out at the expense of women empowerment. In that case, the negotiations will likely prevent and drawback counter-terrorism efforts.
WOMEN S SOCIAL STATUS & CHALLENGES In January 2004, women across Afghanistan celebrated a long-awaited victory in women s constitutional rights with the constitutional grand council (or constitutional loya jirga) ratifying the constitution with an equal rights clause stating, any kind of discrimination and privilege between the citizens of Afghanistan are prohibited. The citizens of Afghanistan whether man or woman have equal rights and duties before the law. Compared to conditions in 2003 when women were not considered as citizens with political and legal rights, this was a significant leap in terms of an improved political, legal and social status for women in Afghanistan. However, today, women still face discrimination and unjust treatment at the hands of a predominantly male-centered society since t he implementation of this constitutional clause, has not lived up to the public s expectations. Although women do have rights according to the constitutional draft, this is mostly merely theoretical in reality. The continuing decline of Western influence and efforts to promote women s rights in Afghanistan has also made the journey harder for women to raise their voice. Moreover, due to the highly religious, Sharia-based elements of Afghani law, it is becoming increasingly important for local and international efforts to investigate and better understand Islamic thought and dialogue and its outlook on female empowerment to encourage better acceptance of women s rights in the local arena of political and social influence. This is a crucial route for the move towards women s liberation in Afghanistan since Islamic law is more progressive towards female empowerment than customary norms are, and it is also attributed the highest status of law in the country. Women also face severe discrimination in issues pertaining to inheritance and land ownership rights, access to education, child marriage (despite its legal ban), control over earned income and other related situations regarding economic/financial independence, and marriage/divorce rights. Over the years, this has degraded and worsened women s general status in society, and the link to terrorism has become more implicitly yet dumbfoundingly profound. In a research study conducted by Humboldt State University, researchers found that Afghani women held a symbolic status in the United States war against terror in Afghanistan, particularly during and since the Bush administration and with the initiative of Laura Bush in this anti-terrorism campaign. The United States used women as a symbol of women s freedom and liberation in the light of the war against terrorism, thereby lending a feminist perspective to this geopolitical conflict. However, the extent to which this approach has proven to be successful, is questionable since the conflict still persists till today. PURPOSE:
This International Affairs Dialogue aims to create a well-informed, detailed, conclusive communiqué to suggest changes such as the following, to outdated and discriminatory legislation: The government should amend the constitution to include a clause that ensures gender equality in all rights and obligations under the constitution. The government should repeal all discriminatory clauses within the criminal and penal code, particularly laws dealing with adultery and crimes against women in the name of "honor," to ensure women's equal treatment before the law. The government should amend citizenship and naturalization laws to enable children of any Lebanese man or woman to receive their right to citizenship. The government should remove all reservations to CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) and take steps to implement it locally. The government should amend all laws that do not currently protect women from all violence, including eliminating legal provisions that allow reduced sentences for abusers who marry their victims or claim honor as justification for their crimes. The government should enact a law against domestic violence and take concrete steps to ensure implementation. The government and women's NGOs should work to create broader societal awareness about women's legal rights, including the rights of foreign domestic workers and the elimination of violence against women. The government should create a monitoring body to record and research gender discrimination in the labor market. The government should enable the judiciary and executive system to prosecute those who discriminate against women in the private and public sectors. The government should address the rights of Palestinian refugees to have decent living and employment opportunities. The government should enact and implement laws to ensure that foreign women workers are not trafficked or abused. The government should establish an independent monitoring body of experts to help formulate policies and procedures that ensure women's equitable representation in elections, political parties, and state appointments.
The government should provide special funds and assistance to women politicians and women's NGOs to increase women's participation in public life. The government should support and facilitate civil society groups and the media to initiate public education campaigns that would increase social acceptance of women's involvement in politics and civil society. The government should take steps to ensure equal gender representation within government-run media outlets and modify media regulations to ensure women's equal participation in private media companies. The government should compile gender-disaggregated statistics on the problem of poverty and work to strengthen economic opportunities for impoverished women. The government should investigate violations of labor laws in the agriculture sector and their adverse effects on women farmers. The government should increase public spending on health and work to provide equal access to health care for all women.