“A resolution passed by the Ulema Council of Afghanistan prohibits women from traveling without a male family member and studying, working, or communicating with strange men in the society, and it allows only men to seek divorce. The Presidential Palace, Arg, welcomed this resolution. Has Afghanistan failed its 50%?….As for as it remains a resolution it will have no binding affect. If the Ulema Council give a Fatwa then it will be binding and will have to be enforced.”
This was the Facebook status update of Noorjahan Akbar, co-founder of Young Women for Change, yesterday.
It is upsetting to see women’s rights under this kind of attack in Afghanistan. If the Ulema Council does give a Fatwa, one of the many, many negative outcomes will be an even greater restriction of access to public places for women and likely more harassment and assault should they dare go outside without a male family member.
Afghanistan is the most dangerous place for women to live in the world (Iceland the best place and Yemen the worst place) and it’s initiatives like this that make it so. A society with few rights for women and where women’s free agency is not respected fosters violence. And that is not good for women or for men.
Young Women for Change is currently fundraising to raise enough money to build and run a women-only, safe and secure Internet Cafe and meeting place. As more and more public places become restricted to women and harassment increases, this space is vital because it will allow women to connect with each other and the outside world. Donate today.
Clare King says
And, as was ponted out in an article in The Guardian today, if it is passed, then the women MPs in the Afghan parliament will not be able to continue in their work.