Gender Equality in Afghanistan

Afghanistan
Flag of Afghanistan
Population (in Mil.)	29.1
Sex Ratio (m/f)	1,05
Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m)	1
Fertility Rate	6.63
Income Ratio (f/m)	0.24
Literacy Ratio (f/m)	n/a
Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m)	n/a
Women in Parliament (in %)	27,3
SIGI Rank	101
More information on variables
Did you know that Afghanistan ranks number 101 of 102 countries on the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index? To learn more, see the official country note "Gender Equality and Social Institutions in Afghanistan" at genderindex.org:

Afghan women are among the most vulnerable in the world. Under the Taliban regime, women and girls were systematically discriminated against and marginalized, and their human rights were violated. Women did not have a role in the political process and were excluded from all forms of formal or informal governance. In addition, their access to education, health care facilities and employment was severely restricted. After the overthrow of the Taliban in November 2001 many hoped that women in Afghanistan would rapidly regain their human rights, but the continuing threat to women’s security still makes their participation in public life almost impossible. While Islamic law protects women’s interest in principle, Afghan customary law remains discriminatory.

Family Code

Marriage is a community affair in Afghanistan and forced early marriage is common - an estimated 57 % of girls are married before the age of 16 (Human Rights Watch, 2004). Many Afghan people have arranged marriages, decided by their parents or elder male family members. Arranged marriage is sometimes considered forced marriage (when one party is forced to marry against its will), although it is not always the case. In remote areas, the arrangement may be seen as positive due to the limited access of young people to potential partners.

The Afghan constitution, as well as Islamic law, allows for polygamy and a man can have up to four wives simultaneously. While certain conditions apply to multiple marriages, such as the equal treatment of spouses, these are not always observed in practice. As the social prestige of a divorced woman is very low, a woman is more likely to agree to be a second or third wife than a divorcee, even if she is treated unfairly by her husband (Max Planck Institute, 2005).

Under Islamic law, provisions on parental authority hold a father as the natural guardian of his children and their belongings. A child’s paternal grandfather is his or her natural guardian after the father. In the case of divorce, a mother is usually granted physical - not legal - custody of her child until the child reaches the age of custodial transfer. The child is then returned to the physical custody of the father or the father’s family (Uhlman, 2004). Inheritance practices are treated differently under Islamic and customary laws. Under Islamic law, a woman may inherit from her parents, her husband, her children and - under certain conditions - from other members of her family. A man, however, is entitled greater shares of inheritance than a woman. For example, a daughter receives only half of what her brother inherits upon the death of their parents. This is commonly justified by the fact that a woman has no financial responsibility towards her husband and children. Under customary law, women are taken care of by their family but they don’t inherit from their fathers or husbands. If her husband dies, a widow will remain in her family-in-law. If she is young, she is often encouraged to marry her brother-in-law in order to be able to take care of her children. Because of the long lasting civil war, there is nowadays 1.5 millions Afghan widows.

Physical Integrity

Female genital mutilation is not practiced in Afghanistan.

Violence against women is widely tolerated and practiced in the Afghan community. There are four main factors that underlie women’s vulnerability: (i) the traditional patriarchal gender order; (ii) the erosion of protective social mechanisms; (iii) the lack of the rule of law; and (iv) poverty and insecurity in the country following years of conflict (UN Economic and Social Council, 2006). Abusers are rarely prosecuted and the authorities seldom investigate complaints about violent attacks, rape, murders or suicides of women. Women who report rape face incarceration and may be accused of “zina” (i.e. sexual relations outside marriage, which is illegal). Nevertheless, the need to combat violence against women is gaining ground and support in Afghanistan. Victims of family violence, mainly from urban areas, have started to assert their rights -- notably to divorce -- and have contributed to bringing the issue of the protection of women to national attention.

The occurrence of missing women (including female infants and children) is widespread in most South Asian countries, and particularly severe in Afghanistan. The country has the world’s highest percentage of missing women relative to its total female population. Census data show that over 1.1 million Afghan women were missing in 2001 (Hudson et al, 2005). This is primarily the result of female sex-selective abortions, or through relative neglect compared to boys in early childhood (including abandonment).

Civil Liberties

The Taliban's policies severely limited women's freedom of movement. Women could not leave their households nor travel unless accompanied by a male relative, which put a particular strain on female-headed households and widows. In May 2001, a decree was issued by the Taliban, banning women from driving cars, which further limited their activities. While conditions have improved since the fall of the Taliban, real change has been limited due to continuing security threats.

The current government imposes no legal restrictions on women’s freedom of dress. Following deeply rooted traditions of purdah, however, most women cover themselves from head to toe, wearing the typical burkha. Women who go unveiled in public run the risk of being verbally or physically harassed.

Ownership Rights

While many women work in the agriculture sector, few actually own land of their own. Women are most likely to gain access to land through inheritance.

Women’s access to bank loans has been limited. Most Afghans, in general, are too poor to provide collateral for a loan. Since the fall of the Taliban, however, microfinance institutions have been set up in the country with the help of foreign aid. Women clients use the money to set up small businesses in a variety of areas, from weaving and knitting to carpentry and animal husbandry.

While Islamic law protects a woman’s access to property, customary law traditionally deprives a woman of economic assets and she is often dependant on her husband, father or brother (if she is not married) throughout her life.

In the news

• The New York Times 30.07.2010 : Afghan Women Fear Loss of Modest Gains
• France 24  12.06.2010 : Afghan women swap burqas for police uniforms
• BBC News  02.06.2010 Fears for rights of Afghan women over peace talks

• USA Today 01.06.2010 :U.S. says Afghan peace deal must ensure women's rights

See Also

• Women and the Conflict in Afghanistan
• Afghan Women's Association International
• Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan

Sources

• Amnesty International (2005), Afghanistan: Women still under attack – a systematic failure to protect, AI Index: ASA 11/007/2005.
• Uhlman K, (2004), Overview of Shari’a and Prevalent Customs in Islamic Societies - Divorce and Child Custody, Expert Law, http://www.expertlaw.com.
• Grace, Jo (2005), Who Owns the Farm? Rural Women’s Access to Land and Livestock, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Working Paper Series.
• Hudson, V. and A. Den Boer, Missing Women and Bare Branches: Gender Balance and Conflict, ECSP Report, Issue 11, 2005.
• Human Rights Watch, The Status of Women in Afghanistan, October 2004, http://www.hrw.org.
• Klasen, K. and C. Wink (2003), “Missing Women”: Revisiting the Debate, Feminist Economics 1/2003, Volume 9, Issue 2-3.
• Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private Law and Private International Law (2005), Family Structures and Family Law in Afghanistan: A Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Afghanistan January-March 2005.
• Microfinance Times (2005), Addressing the Needs of Afghanistan’s Poor and Developing a Sustainable Microfinance Sector, Issue 3, Volume 1, December 2005.
• OECD (2006), The Gender, Institutions and Development Database, http://www.oecd.org/dev/gender/gid.
• UN Economic and Social Council (2006), Integration of the Human Rights of Women and a Gender Perspective: Violence Against Women, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk, E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.5.
• UN Economic and Social Council (2002), Discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan, Report of the Secretary General, E/CN.6/2002/5.
• UNICEF (2005), Country Programme Evaluation: Government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan / UNICEF (2003-2005).