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Lifting the Veil Dr. Aaliya Rehman Bibi Rehman_aaliya@yahoo.com June 30, 2011

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Images of Afghan Women

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Key Women Health indicators Health indicators worst in world More that 7 mio reproductive age Maternal Mortality : 1600 per 1000,000 live births (ranges 400 6,500) {1 in 15} Three delays (in decision making, in transportation and in receiving care) contribute to toward High MMR

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Cont..Health Among adults: 1500 deaths/yr TB 70% of these deaths are among women 50% death in women due to pregnancy and childbirth of these are preventable Life expectancy: 44.5 yrs

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Child Health Indicators Infant Mortality: 165/1000 live births U5Mortality: 257 Moderate to severe malnutrition: 50% Among children: 60% infectious and vaccine preventable diseases

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Trends in Pregnancy and Delivery Deliveries conducted at home by unqualified personnel (90%) Contraceptive prevalence rate: 5% (Iran;3.9%- 1.4%) The major clinical causes of maternal deaths are hemorrhage, obstructed labor. High prevalence of anemia 70% PHC not available 90% of hospitals not equipped to perform C- sections (east 1:40,000 & south 1:200,000)

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Trends in education Adult literacy rate est: 36% Adult women: 21% (2001) Significant leap in enrollment has take place during the last few years Girls represent only 15% of total enrolment in 9 provinces

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Barriers to education Lack of school facilities for girls esp. in the rural areas Far flung distances from school-lack of security Lack of female teachers Poor or lacking school facilities including drinking water and toilets Married girls prevented from ordinary enrollment Poverty uniform, income generation disincentive.

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Work & Employment Men main bread winner. Women considered responsible for household chores Wood collection Water 80% of population is rural, Livelihood agriculture, livestock Women make the ends meet depending on their socio-economic status (female headed HH Embroidery, Poultry Employment outside domestic is limited to urban settings

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Legal Rights and Voice Afghan women far from homogenous (ethnicity, rural/urban, education) Control of financial resources and expenditure is mens prerogative Local customs regarding womens inheritance differs Woman is considered to be the honor of the husband and his extended family Not called by own name but by the name of her husband or eldest son.

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Marriage and divorce Customary to marry off girls at younger age Bride prices dowry Bridal money haq meher Dissolution of marriage either by woman or man is regarded as a disgrace

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Women in the Gender System Central to Patriarchal society Male dominance Paradise under the feet of the women Son cannot go on a long journey without the permission of the mother Pakdaman-pure, Bahaya-modest, Bapardah-nobel Birth of boys celebrated and girls birth go unnoticed (destined to another home) Purdah women are source of patrilineage, family name, honor

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Why the Burqa Misses the Point For men and women around the world, the burqa is the simplest and most profound symbol of Afghan womens repression. The media, and womens organizations in the West, have used it to successfully attract the attention of mainstream Western audiences. Therefore, it may seem paradoxical that Afghan women are appealing to the public to end their fixation with the burqa. But in an interview with an author conducted in December 2001, female teachers in Kandahar said, The burqa is not our problem. We need education, we need to be able to see the doctor, we need to earn money to feed our families. We dont mind the burqa, so long as our basic needs are met. She urged Western women to go beyond the burqa.

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Women become the story! Women in the limelight after 9/11 Standardization standards? Westernization Others Influencing Factors (internal & external)

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Internal factors Culture Wrong use of Religion Patriarchal family based Marked rural/urban disparities Lack of infrastructure Security situation

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Factors cont.. Women education Enabling environment Female teachers Access issues Protection issues Health 3 delays Income generation Exploited

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External Factors Politics Uneven distribution of international aid (financial and non-financial) Funding with strings attached Strategic approach - Change the mind of the men to bring about a change in women status

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Conclusions Policy interventions & solutions - need to be addressed within the cultural context (women training & mobility) Strategic lesson planned changes require consultation households/larger community Men first community, shuras, elders-need to rely on intervention from coercive state Addressing heterogeneities opportunity for quick gains

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Conclusions Notion of complementarities rather than equality in the western sense - CBA & Gender based approach Womens employment in health and education sectors Increased involvement in income generation Socially acceptable skilled & unskilled employment opportunities Legal reforms NGOs

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Thank you Questions!

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References: Repression, Resistance and Women in Afghanistan, 2002: by Hafeezullah Emadi Afghan: Opposing Viewpoints 2006 byThompson Gale Women of Afghanistan, 2003 by Isabelle Delloye From Patriorchy to Empowerment, 2007 : by Valentine M Moghadam World Report 2005 by UNICEF World Report 2006 by UNICEF Afghanistan: NRPR, The Afghanistans future By The World Bank 2005 Save the Children Website Afghan Information Ministry