Rights of Afghan Women Since the US Invasion Essay -- Afghan Womens R

As a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the issue of Afghan women’s rights came to the world stage. Through the media, populations of first-world countries saw firsthand the terrible oppression of Afghan women. One such instance was the famous picture of the â€Å"Afghan Girl† published in the National Geographic magazine, which became an international symbol for the plight of Afghan women. The United States and Afghan governments have repeatedly obstructed the progression of Afghan women’s rights, causing women’s quality of life to decline, women’s education to suffer, and women’s representation in government to be limited. Women’s rights in Afghanistan have not always been suppressed. Throughout the early 1900s to the mid-1900s, women were free to travel unaccompanied. King Amanullah constructed schools for girls and passed laws eliminating arranged marriages (Kolhatkar, 2013). In the early 1950s, the government outlawed the Islamic principle of purdah, or gender separation. Moreover, the government granted Afghan women the right to vote in 1965, a year earlier than American women, and by the early 1960s, held half of all legislative posts (â€Å"Women,† 2013). King Amanullah even made the burqa, the symbol of oppression, optional and encouraged a Western style of dress (Kolhatkar, 2013). When the Taliban came to power in 1996, all of that changed. The Taliban believed it was their duty to protect women and their family’s honor. Enforcing a version of â€Å"Sharia†, or Islamic law and drawing principles from the â€Å"Pashtunwali†, or traditional social code, the Tali ban effectively banned women from going to school, studying, working, leaving the house without a male relative to accompany them, showing any skin while in public settings, ... ...bglj Levi, S. (2009, September). The long, long struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, 2(12). Retrieved from http://origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-women-s-rights-afghanistan Mahr, K. (2014, April 14). Waiting for the Taliban. Time, 183(14), 24-38. McCurry, S. (1984, December). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/ photographers/afghan-girl-cover.html Peace unveiled [Television episode]. (2011, October 25). In P. Hogan, G. Reticker, A. E. Disney, & C. Rizzi (Producer), Women, war and peace. New York, NY: PBS. Women in Afghanistan: The back story. (2013, October 25). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Amnesty International UK website: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/womens-rights-afghanistan-history#.U0If0FzxWP8