Afghan Women Speak: Advancing Security and Human Rights in Afghanistan
Categories: Violent Conflict
Sub-Categories: Human Development, National Security Forces and Armed Groups
Country: Afghanistan
Region: South and Central Asia
Year: 2012
Citation: Cortright, David and Kristen Wall. Afghan Women Speak: Advancing Security and Human Rights in Afghanistan. Notre Dame, IN: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, 2012. Accessed October 4, 2016. http://kroc.nd.edu/sites/default/files/Afghan_Women_Speak.pdf.
Sub-Categories: Human Development, National Security Forces and Armed Groups
Country: Afghanistan
Region: South and Central Asia
Year: 2012
Citation: Cortright, David and Kristen Wall. Afghan Women Speak: Advancing Security and Human Rights in Afghanistan. Notre Dame, IN: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, 2012. Accessed October 4, 2016. http://kroc.nd.edu/sites/default/files/Afghan_Women_Speak.pdf.
Executive Summary
International efforts to assist women have produced mixed results: while Afghan women
have won the right to participate in public life and have gained improved access to health
care, education, and local economic development, escalating violence has jeopardized
these gains in many provinces. Women exercising leadership abilities or pursuing
opportunities provided by Western donors are accused of being anti-Islamic and have
been subjected to threats, attack, and assassination. Differing views on women’s roles
have been a battleground over which competing visions for Afghan society, Islam, and
claims to power have been fought. Women—so often objectified in times of war—have
been at the frontlines of the Afghan conflict.