In the Aftermath of Karzai: Any Improvement for Women and their Rights in Afghanistan?

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Abstract

Today, one must state that most women in Afghanistan find themselves in a similar repressive situation as during the Taliban regime. Besides some initial positive developments in the fields of education, political participation, health care and employment thanks to the armed intervention of the international community, not many aspects have improved in a substantial manner for most Afghan women and girls. According to several observers and human rights organisations, women in Afghanistan continue to be among the worst off within and beyond South Asia. Despite relevant commitments of the former Karzai government, women are facing all kinds of social atrocities, political limitations and sufferings from traditional practices, which are neither in line with the Afghan constitution, nor with national and international laws. The situation further deteriorated after the withdrawal of the bulk of international troops, which paved the path for the comeback of the Taliban and other Islamic fundamentalist groups, as well as the growing influence of religious clerics within the Afghan state and society. Having this in mind, the article attempts to shed some light on the most significant trajectories contributing to the worsening of the status of Afghan women.