Lifting the Veil Dr. Aaliya Rehman Bibi [email protected]
June 30, 2011
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Images of Afghan Women
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Key Women Health indicators Health indicators worst in world
More that 7 mio reproductive age Maternal Mortality : 1600 per
1000,000 live births (ranges 400 6,500) {1 in 15} Three delays (in
decision making, in transportation and in receiving care)
contribute to toward High MMR
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Cont..Health Among adults: 1500 deaths/yr TB 70% of these
deaths are among women 50% death in women due to pregnancy and
childbirth of these are preventable Life expectancy: 44.5 yrs
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Child Health Indicators Infant Mortality: 165/1000 live births
U5Mortality: 257 Moderate to severe malnutrition: 50% Among
children: 60% infectious and vaccine preventable diseases
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Trends in Pregnancy and Delivery Deliveries conducted at home
by unqualified personnel (90%) Contraceptive prevalence rate: 5%
(Iran;3.9%- 1.4%) The major clinical causes of maternal deaths are
hemorrhage, obstructed labor. High prevalence of anemia 70% PHC not
available 90% of hospitals not equipped to perform C- sections
(east 1:40,000 & south 1:200,000)
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Trends in education Adult literacy rate est: 36% Adult women:
21% (2001) Significant leap in enrollment has take place during the
last few years Girls represent only 15% of total enrolment in 9
provinces
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Barriers to education Lack of school facilities for girls esp.
in the rural areas Far flung distances from school-lack of security
Lack of female teachers Poor or lacking school facilities including
drinking water and toilets Married girls prevented from ordinary
enrollment Poverty uniform, income generation disincentive.
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Work & Employment Men main bread winner. Women considered
responsible for household chores Wood collection Water 80% of
population is rural, Livelihood agriculture, livestock Women make
the ends meet depending on their socio-economic status (female
headed HH Embroidery, Poultry Employment outside domestic is
limited to urban settings
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Legal Rights and Voice Afghan women far from homogenous
(ethnicity, rural/urban, education) Control of financial resources
and expenditure is mens prerogative Local customs regarding womens
inheritance differs Woman is considered to be the honor of the
husband and his extended family Not called by own name but by the
name of her husband or eldest son.
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Marriage and divorce Customary to marry off girls at younger
age Bride prices dowry Bridal money haq meher Dissolution of
marriage either by woman or man is regarded as a disgrace
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Women in the Gender System Central to Patriarchal society Male
dominance Paradise under the feet of the women Son cannot go on a
long journey without the permission of the mother Pakdaman-pure,
Bahaya-modest, Bapardah-nobel Birth of boys celebrated and girls
birth go unnoticed (destined to another home) Purdah women are
source of patrilineage, family name, honor
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Why the Burqa Misses the Point For men and women around the
world, the burqa is the simplest and most profound symbol of Afghan
womens repression. The media, and womens organizations in the West,
have used it to successfully attract the attention of mainstream
Western audiences. Therefore, it may seem paradoxical that Afghan
women are appealing to the public to end their fixation with the
burqa. But in an interview with an author conducted in December
2001, female teachers in Kandahar said, The burqa is not our
problem. We need education, we need to be able to see the doctor,
we need to earn money to feed our families. We dont mind the burqa,
so long as our basic needs are met. She urged Western women to go
beyond the burqa.
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Women become the story! Women in the limelight after 9/11
Standardization standards? Westernization Others Influencing
Factors (internal & external)
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Internal factors Culture Wrong use of Religion Patriarchal
family based Marked rural/urban disparities Lack of infrastructure
Security situation
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Factors cont.. Women education Enabling environment Female
teachers Access issues Protection issues Health 3 delays Income
generation Exploited
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External Factors Politics Uneven distribution of international
aid (financial and non-financial) Funding with strings attached
Strategic approach - Change the mind of the men to bring about a
change in women status
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Conclusions Policy interventions & solutions - need to be
addressed within the cultural context (women training &
mobility) Strategic lesson planned changes require consultation
households/larger community Men first community, shuras,
elders-need to rely on intervention from coercive state Addressing
heterogeneities opportunity for quick gains
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Conclusions Notion of complementarities rather than equality in
the western sense - CBA & Gender based approach Womens
employment in health and education sectors Increased involvement in
income generation Socially acceptable skilled & unskilled
employment opportunities Legal reforms NGOs
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Thank you Questions!
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References: Repression, Resistance and Women in Afghanistan,
2002: by Hafeezullah Emadi Afghan: Opposing Viewpoints 2006
byThompson Gale Women of Afghanistan, 2003 by Isabelle Delloye From
Patriorchy to Empowerment, 2007 : by Valentine M Moghadam World
Report 2005 by UNICEF World Report 2006 by UNICEF Afghanistan:
NRPR, The Afghanistans future By The World Bank 2005 Save the
Children Website Afghan Information Ministry