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“We Have the Promises of the World”

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

Authored by: Rachel Reid

Categories: Human Rights
Sub-Categories: Human Development, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
Country: Afghanistan
Region: South and Central Asia
Year: 2009
Citation: Reid, Rachel. “We Have the Promises of the World:" Women’s Rights in Afghanistan. New York: Human Rights Watch, 2009.

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Abstract

This report focuses on five key areas of concern: Attacks on women in public life; Violence against women; Child and forced marriage; Access to justice; Girls’ access to secondary education. We chose these five areas as exemplars of the wider situation of women, though we know that a strong case could be made to examine other subjects such as access to primary education, maternal mortality, threats to women human rights defenders, and domestic violence. By detailing emblematic cases of ongoing rights’ violations in the five areas, this report highlights the failure of the government in recent years to advance the basic rights of women and girls and identifies some of the shortcomings in donor priorities and assistance that have contributed to the backsliding.