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Madhu, the government of Afghanistan, is waging a war upon
women. Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear
burqua and have been beaten and stoned in public for not having the
proper attire, even if this means simply not having the mesh covering
in front of their eyes. One woman was beaten to death by an angry mob
of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing her arm (!) while she was
driving. Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country
with a man that was not a relative. Women are not allowed to work or
even go out in public without a male relative; professional women such
as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers have
been forced from their jobs and stuffed into their homes. Homes where
a woman is present must have their windows painted so that she can
never be seen by outsiders. They must wear silent shoes so that they
are never heard. Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest
misbehavior. Because they cannot work, those without male relatives or
husbands are either starving to death or begging on the street, even
if they hold Ph.D.s.
Depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency
levels. There is no way in such an extreme Islamic society to know the
suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are estimating that
the suicide rate among women must be extraordinarily high: those who
cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression and
would rather take their lives than live in such conditions. At one of
the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless
bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua,
unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting
away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners,
perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear.
When what little medication that is left finally runs out, one doctor
is considering leaving these women in front of the president's
residence as a form of protest. It is at the point where the term
"human rights violations" has become an understatement. Husbands have
the power of life and death over their women relatives, especially
their wives, but an angry mob has just as much right to stone or beat
a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of flesh or offending
them in the slightest way.
Women enjoyed relative freedom: to work, to dress generally as they
wanted, and to drive and appear in public alone until only 1996. The
rapidity of this transition is the main reason for the depression and
suicide; women who were once educators or doctors or simply used to
basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and treated as
subhuman in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam.
It is not their tradition or 'culture,' but it is alien to them,
and it is extreme even for those cultures where fundamentalism is the
rule. Everyone has a right to a tolerable human existence, even if
they are women in a Muslim country.
If we can threaten military force in Kosovo in the name of human
rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can
certainly express peaceful outrage at the oppression, murder and
injustice committed against women by the Taliban.
STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of
women in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves action by
the United Nations and that the current situation overseas will not be
tolerated. Women's Rights is not a small issue anywhere, and it is
UNACCEPTABLE for women in 2000 to be treated as subhuman and as so
much property. Equality and human decency is a fundamental RIGHT, not
a freedom to be granted, whether one lives in Afghanistan or or
elsewhere.
DIRECTIONS:PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the
bottom and forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you
receive this list with more than 300 names on it, please e-mail a copy
of it to:
mailto:*********@brandeis.edu.
Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not
kill the petition.
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Urban Legend Zeitgeist: Treament of Afghan Women Email Petition: Example