Women's Rights In Afghanistan

Nineteen years after her engagement, thirty year old Sutara was brutally stabbed by her husband for not handing over her possessions for drug money. Her husband cut off her nose and mutilated her face. Sadly, this is the case for many Afghan women who face discrimination and harsh, unjust treatment. For thousands of years, Islamic women have been thought of as subordinates to men and treated as such. Although most everybody in the Western world agrees on this issue, yet many Muslims in the Middle East think otherwise. Because of their religion and culture, these people truly believe that men are superior to women, primarily because of their religion. By having an education, women in Afghanistan are able to defend their domestic treatment and

Upon the removal of the Taliban in 2001, the Afghan government has actually passed laws that essentially turn women into sex slaves for their husbands. Article 132 in Afghanistan's constitution states, “As long as the husband is not traveling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night. Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband” (“Afghan Law Legalizes Rape”). This obscene law, passed in 2009, allows for what is essentially rape, as the women has no consent or rights on the matter. By passing this law, it has become evident that women rights are slipping, and could possibly return to the level they were at during the Taliban rule. With the government doing little to aid the situation that nearly sixteen million women face everyday, the few rights women see today could be gone in the future, just as they were less than twenty years

Domestic violence occurs all too often because girls are married or engaged too early. An article written by Trust in Education explains how nearly 60% of girls are married off at age sixteen, where most are then used as nothing more than sex slaves for their husbands. From a young age, these girls are taught that they are half as much, if not less, than the man. Regrettably, most child marriages result in rape and further domestic violence because of the authority the man posses over the woman (Life as an Afghan woman). In Afghanistan, men beating women for the slightest step out of line is common place. Because of the extremely patriarchal countries laws and religion, the ability to beat a woman is praised, and sometimes even encouraged. Sura 4:34 declares, “But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once