The Afghan School Project

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Over the next few days, theafghanschool.org will publish essays that students of the Afghan-Canadian Community Center wrote regarding the problems faced by women in Afghanistan. I would like to thank the students for taking the time to express their thoughts and, most importantly, for suggesting solutions to these challenges.

The lack of respect and protection for women’s rights remain an ongoing problem facing many countries around the world. By working with women in Afghanistan to further the cause of higher education, we help to advance the cause of women’s rights and draw nearer to a world in which men and women are treated equally.

Small changes have been made to the grammar and spelling of the articles. All efforts have been made to retain the essays’ original meaning.

The Problems Faced by Women in Afghanistan

The situation for women in Afghanistan is very tense. For example, a woman in Afghanistan is not allowed to get education or select her own life partner as she is seldom allowed to leave her house. If she is allowed to leave, she will have to wear a Burqa and cover her whole body.

Women are forced by their elder to marry older men at the age of 17 or 18 years. In many cases, they are married for the money, and are effectively sold to rich, old men. Her family does not think that she has dreams that she wishes would become true, not even the dream of a consensual marriage.

From my point of view, girls who are going to school should be obedient to their parents, should prove this that they can do something and make their parents proud of them. However, the Afghan government and international community should take a step in preventing force marriage and should punish the violators.

- Kochi

What are women’s problems?

From my point of view, women in Afghanistan have a number of problems:
1. Why they can’t go and get education?
2. Why does the government not promote women’s rights?
3. Why can’t a woman work outside of her home?
4. Why do women experience problems with their families and husbands?

Solutions:

The family cannot help without women’s rights being guaranteed by the government. Women’s families claim that there is nothing that they can do to help, and question how children can get an education when there is no security. To address these problems, those women who go outside of their homes and are troubled by the situation must tell their families and the government.

- Muhiba

A woman’s problems start from first day of her life, as many families are unhappy to have a girl born into the family and will not take a good care of her. When she is about 10 or 11 year old, she is forced to do all home chores even though she will be not capable of doing so much work.

When it comes to getting married, she will be married so as to bring money to her family, but will not be asked whether she is ready to marry her potential husband. After getting married, she may be mistreated by her husband and other members of his family if the man does not have another wife, and may suffer even more if the husband has more than one wife.

Women here are only used for one reason: sex. Women are expected to give birth to and to raise children. If they produce a son then they are considered fortunate, but a wife who produces daughters will be considered disgraced, or may have their husband married to another woman.

When it comes to education nowadays, even boys are not allowed to get education, let alone girls. Many consider the education of women to be a crime.

But they don’t know when a women will be educated it means a family will be educated, as the woman is the one to bring up the children. To resolve our problems, we must receive education and provide education to others.

- Rona