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Afghan Women Continue to Suffer Despite the West
THE plight of women in Afghanistan is no excuse for Western ''occupation'' of the country, a leading Afghan opponent of the war and former MP has declared.
Ms Joya said the only solution to the conflict in Afghanistan was the withdrawal of foreign troops and support for education and social networks. (GETTY) Malalai Joya - the youngest woman elected to the Afghanistan Parliament, in 2004, who then faced death threats for her outspoken criticism of tribal warlords - said the image of Afghan women was being unfairly used to justify the foreign presence.
''The tragic situation of women under the Taliban was a very good excuse for the US and NATO after the 9/11 tragedy to occupy the country,'' Ms Joya told The Age yesterday during a visit to Melbourne.
Time magazine recently featured a cover photo of a mutilated, 19-year-old Afghan woman, Aisha, after her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband. The photo carried the caption: ''What happens if we leave Afghanistan.''
But Ms Joya said despite the presence of the Western troops, women continued to suffer.
''They replaced the Taliban with fundamentalist warlords, who are the same like the Taliban - they are misogynist and have committed many crimes against women and human rights,'' she said.
''Today, most of the women are wearing the burqa just to be alive because of security reasons.''
Ms Joya will discuss the Afghanistan conflict at a public lecture today at Deakin University in Burwood.
She describes herself as a member of a ''war generation'' - born in 1978 shortly before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - that has seen the crippling effects of civil war and the rise of the Taliban.
She said the 68 women now in the Afghan Parliament only served a symbolic role.
Elections earlier this year were marred by corruption and Ms Joya said she refused to participate so as not to legitimise a flawed process.
US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates - in Melbourne this week for meetings with Australian counterparts - flagged a transition by US forces to Afghan control in 2014.
But Ms Joya said the only solution to the conflict in Afghanistan was the withdrawal of foreign troops and support for education and social networks.
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23 Comments so far
Show AllMalalai Joya: An oasis of truth in a vast desert of lies.
Thanks, Paul. Again, notice that "women's issues" don't get much response. Despite the protestations to the contrary, "the West" doesn't seem to care all that much about gender equality either.
I wounder...
In Soulidarity
Afghan women do NOT suffer despite the west. In very large measure, they suffer BECAUSE of the west. In fact, they were far better off under the Afghan regime that was in place during the Soviet occupation.
Gender and Agrarian reform was the main platform of the late 70's Socialist Afghan Government whose fundamentalist and Landlord oppossition the USA armed and supported thus iniating 30 years of warfare harmful to all life.
Western women suffer just the same.
We just have different words for the same abuse.
And if the "west" really cared about women they would stop killing and raping them in wars.
Though I agree with your point about caring, saying that Western women suffer just the same is over the top. We have our challenges here, too, but nothing along the extreme lines of what is taking place in Afghanistan. In fact, the men in Afgh. are also oppressed by the extremists in power, though not as severely. Western women still have options and recourse - and a voice, though the barking baboon gang often drowns it out.
I didn't write what I wrote lightly.
Tens of thousands of women murdered by their family is extreme. Family violence is extreme.
How about the 100,000s of rapes every year, that's extreme.
Sex slavery is extreme.
Yes, you say, but those are not condoned by society .
I beg to differ.
They might not be condoned by the majority nor by law but these crimes against humanity are facilitated by a patriarchal system which provides opportunity, turns a blind eye and makes justice nearly impossible.
It's possible to exaggerate even serious problems. Western women still have more leeway, more freedom. I'm appalled myself at the callous disregard by Western patriachy of women as human beings, equal and worthy of respect. The blind eye does make justice extremely difficult. The system does let women down, still favours the White geezers. Still, I can drive a car, get as much education as I want, walk on a street, have financial autonomy, own and dispose of property, determine who inherits my stuff, argue before a court, vote, eat and drink as much as a man, etc - without fear of being executed for any of it or having acid thrown at me, or having ot wear a tent for safety.
It's far from ideal, and really bad in places, but not to the degree you find in Afghanistan. That's all I'm saying. Though you raise an issue I've mulled over, myself. To what degree is condonation actually instrumentality? That is - is there a real difference between a system that enacts persecution and a system that merely ignores the persecutive (?) acts of individuals that have "gone off". Here in the West, we still lack the formal committees of self-declared moral authorities who launch targeted actions against transgressors of some quasi-moral whim. But we often hear snickers and blame when women are assaulted or denied access, and we see the betrayal by the justice system. The question is: is that as severe, in your mind? Yes, as the effects can be as devastating.
I am not denying the prevalence of misogyny in our society, but we're not being beaten on the street, or shot in the stadium for wearing the wrong colour socks... yet.
Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale. Very prophetic. What she describes already exists in fundamentalist cult compounds. I see that as more parallel to the current mess in Afgh.
"Here in the West, we still lack the formal committees of self-declared moral authorities who launch targeted actions against transgressors of some quasi-moral whim "
Try holding hands and kissing your same sex partner on the cheek in public in Salt Lake City.
Walk into a pub in a small town down south wearing city clothes and declare you are a communist and atheist.
See how far that gets you.
Then try living in those places.
It would be difficult.
Thank you Redbaloon not to diminish any other opinion.
In terms of perceptions there is a difference sometime subtle sometime profound, between reading about Iraq/Afghanistan & being in Iraq/Afghanistan. experiencing is sometimes an important ingredient in our awakening consciousness.
Martin Luther King is a powerful example of the ultimate empathy, passion & compassion. He was one with the Vietnamese man & woman, he transcended past his own struggle without diminishing his own suffering he was one more victim of the three millions Vietnamese cowardly killed by the industrial military complex & the corporate backers.
Martin Luther King CONNECTED his past slave life to the reality of the little girl napalmed in the streets of Hanoi.It may not be a general rule but no prose no poetry & definitely no commandments could replace that.
In Soulidarity.
No Terror No Torture Just truth.
Yes, I'm sure the Afghans feel better off with foreigners who don't understand their language or their culture loaded down with guns and bombs running roughshod over their country; I'm sure they regard these as their saviors.
Don't forget the drones!
Thanks corvo
I have a problem with UN-man-ED drones.
If you close your eyes you will sea an obese man laying somewhere in Texas seeping a cocktail, maneuvering his phallic instrument of death & terror, just like his counterpart did in the Abugraibs hell holes created by the empire,around the world.
They R not UN-man-ED they R just not man enough, they neither man nor soldier, not to diminish the extraordinary men/women I have met in my life.
In Soulidarity.
No Terror No Torture Just Truth.
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
www.RAWA.org
There is absolutely no reason for the U.S. to be in Afghanistan. There are many vital, moral, reasonable, economical, intelligent ,compassionate reasons for all concerned, Afghanistan and Americans, to leave immediately.
Exit strategy for Afghanistan is: Just do it!
How can an invading stranger be considered a savior? Is he,not more, like the felon that commits a home invasion and turns around and kills family members and tells you that it is for your own good? The lady of the house tells you to get out and they tell her no because she might be killed or raped. They dont leave and rape and kill her family and have managed to turn family members against each other and robbing the home blind.The stranger has called in other felons to help with this invasion and are hoping to cash in also. the judge (the UN) has already been bought so their is no worry there. The lady has right and the law on her side but might is the false right that has stymed her quest for any justice. Wrote about Malalai Joya before and she is still a lady. Tony
Do you mean to tell me that even after all of our bombings and killing Afghan civilians, that there is still injustice in Afghanistan? Hard to believe.
Morticia
Don't waste you breath.
'They' don't want to know.
~sc
I'd like to see a council of grandmothers from all over the world, talking, voting, deciding, advising the rest of us, exercising moral authority, lecturing errant national and religious leaders. Seeding for a new world. Making news.
You do know there is a Council of Grandmothers ( I believe they are all indigenous), and I believe they have published a proclamation.
We all ought to remember dear Alice Herz.
Trylon
I've heard some of the worst racist rants from the mouths of grandmothers. Religious bigotry and homophobia too.
Not every granny is sweet.