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WOMEN'S RIGHTS
Afghan women’s groups eye uncertain future under vague ‘Islamic framework’
After 20 years of considerable gains and with much more still to do, Afghan women’s rights activists are battling rage and disappointment as they enter another chapter in the fight for gender rights. But the Taliban has still not provided clarity on its inconsistent statements and they fear that will come too late, when the world stops paying attention.
Not long after the Taliban blew up the ancient Buddha statues in Bamiyan back in March 2001, Sunita Viswanath and a group of Afghan women in New York founded the NGO, Women for Afghan Women (WAW). Over the past 20 years, she has kept at the job as WAW expanded to become one of the largest women’s organisations in Afghanistan, running domestic violence shelters, as well as education and vocational training centres across the country.
Working on women’s rights can sometimes be a matter of life and death in Afghanistan and Viswanath is no stranger to the dangers of the job. Women fleeing domestic violence can face death threats or fear abductions by family members determined to deliver them back to abusive husbands or in-laws.
Security has been a very serious issue for the 1,200-strong WAW staff, one that is assessed and adapted for the changing needs on the ground. If a provincial capital risks falling to the Taliban, for instance, staff and shelter residents are immediately evacuated to the capital, Kabul, until the situation calms down and operations can resume in affected cities and regions.
Nothing could have prepared Viswanath for the perils of the past week. “It’s the grimmest moment since we started 20 years ago. I see a humanitarian catastrophe coming,” said Viswanath in a phone interview with FRANCE 24 from New York, where she has been frantically trying to secure her Afghan staff and the women under WAW's protection.
Afghan women’s groups eye uncertain future under vague ‘Islamic framework’
After 20 years of considerable gains and with much more still to do, Afghan women’s rights activists are battling rage and disappointment as they enter another chapter in the fight for gender rights. But the Taliban has still not provided clarity on its inconsistent statements and they fear that will come too late, when the world stops paying attention.
Not long after the Taliban blew up the ancient Buddha statues in Bamiyan back in March 2001, Sunita Viswanath and a group of Afghan women in New York founded the NGO, Women for Afghan Women (WAW). Over the past 20 years, she has kept at the job as WAW expanded to become one of the largest women’s organisations in Afghanistan, running domestic violence shelters, as well as education and vocational training centres across the country.
Working on women’s rights can sometimes be a matter of life and death in Afghanistan and Viswanath is no stranger to the dangers of the job. Women fleeing domestic violence can face death threats or fear abductions by family members determined to deliver them back to abusive husbands or in-laws.
Security has been a very serious issue for the 1,200-strong WAW staff, one that is assessed and adapted for the changing needs on the ground. If a provincial capital risks falling to the Taliban, for instance, staff and shelter residents are immediately evacuated to the capital, Kabul, until the situation calms down and operations can resume in affected cities and regions.
Nothing could have prepared Viswanath for the perils of the past week. “It’s the grimmest moment since we started 20 years ago. I see a humanitarian catastrophe coming,” said Viswanath in a phone interview with FRANCE 24 from New York, where she has been frantically trying to secure her Afghan staff and the women under WAW's protection.
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