Status of Women in Afghanistan

Abstract

Women in Afghanistan from the very beginning lived a diverse life. In the semi-tribal patriarchal Afghan society women remained all obedient to the male members of her family, in daughter to father, sister to a brother, wife to husband, mother to a son, etc. She has always been marginalized and accorded a subordinate status. In a male dominated conservative society in Afghanistan, women have always been at the receiving end; she have lived a life of segregation and isolation; denied of access to modern amenities like education, health, employment, etc; and the basic right to dress, movement and work at their will. Oppression on women folk in Afghanistan have been thus innumerable that also included rape, murder; beating in public, etc. Women were, however, respected and kept in high dignity by their husbands and children. Their status within family remained highly respectable but secondary to her male counterpart. In this paper an attempt has been made to highlight the major areas in which Afghan women in general have been suffering through ages.