Gender Apartheid

Apartheid is the "strict racial segregation as practiced in South Africa."¹ Gender apartheid has been used to describe the strict gender-based segregation currently practiced in Afghanistan.

Gender apartheid began in Afghanistan in September 1996, when the Taliban militia took over the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul.² The Taliban militia is a fundamentalist group that claims to represent pure Islamic principles.² However, most Muslim countries condemn the practices of the Taliban as being un-Islamic.^2-4

As of 1998, the Taliban controlled at least 85% of Afghanistan, and instituted gender apartheid policies throughout this region.⁵ These gender-based segregation policies have been denounced as human rights violations by governments and people around the world.^{2, 5-8}

Although the Taliban's fundamentalist practices adversly affect both men and women, it is women who bear the worst human rights violations.⁵ The Taliban militia has instituted several laws which not only segregate men and women, but also severely restrict women's ability to function in society.

Gender Apartheid Restrictions:

On work and school:

• Women cannot work outside the home (except in some limited capacity in health care fields).^2,5,7
• Women cannot attend universities.^2,7
• Most girls are prohibited from attending school, especially in urban areas.^2,5,7
• Child labor exists throughout the country.⁵

On travel:

• Women cannot leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative.^2,5,7
• Women are not allowed to drive or take taxis.⁵
• Women may only ride on designated buses, and special care is taken to ensure the driver does not see the female passengers.⁵

On becoming invisible:

• In public, women must wear a burqa, which completely covers the body except for a small mesh opening though which to breathe and see.^2,5,7
• Windows are painted over to hide women from view.^2,5,7
• Women's shoes must not click when they walk.^2,5

On health care:

• At the beginning of the Taliban's reign, male doctors could not examine women.^2,5,7
• Now, women can be examined by male doctors only if a woman's close male relative is present.⁵
• A male doctor cannot see or touch a female patient, which makes diagnosis and treatment impossible.⁵
• Women must mainly rely on care from the few women health professionals allowed to work.^2,5,7
• All images of humans are banned, which makes health education difficult, especially for a highly illiterate population.⁵

Not only do these laws infringe on these women's human rights, but the punishments that occur on breaking these laws further infringe on basic human rights.

Punishments for Breaking Taliban Rules

• Women are beaten for dressing improperly -- such as having an ankle or wrist accidently showing from underneath a burqa.^2,7
• Political killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, and denial of a fair public trial are punishments happening to men and women.⁵
• Public amputation, stoning, and whipping occurs for theft and adultery.⁵
• All types of violence against women, including beatings, rapes, forced marriages, disappearances, kidnapings, and killings are considered common, but go unreported.⁵
• Women without a burqa or male escorts risk dying at home, rather than going to seek help.^2,5

Afghanistan women's health is seriously suffering from the severe restrictions enforced by the Taliban. Health is affected directly, especially through violence, but also indirectly through lack of education, poverty, and limited access to medical care.

Violence

Women are victims of a wide variety of gender-selective violence, such as rape, beatings, and murder.⁵ The fear of violence keeps many Afghan women immoblized in their own homes, even when seriously ill.^2,5 Most women had been detained by the police, and one-fifth of those detained had been the victims of violence after being held by the police.⁸

Mental Health

Afghan women's mental health is extremely poor, yet little is being done to treat it. Most women surveyed by the Physicians for Human Rights had declining mental health since Taliban rule began.⁸ Nearly all of these women (97%) were diagnosed with depression, and 42% were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).⁸ These diagnoses are likely to be the cause of ongoing war, as well as the deteriorating conditions for women in Afghanistan.

Economics

Most women are forbidden to work. Employment rates for women plummeted to 20% from 62% prior to the Taliban's rule.⁸ For some women, this increases their reliance on men to provide for the family. This limits women's mobility, and she is unable to leave in cases of domestic violence and marital rape. For many women, reliance on men is not even an option. Afghanistan has been at war for nearly 20 years, so many women are widows and have no close male relatives to care for them and their children.⁵ One study of Afghan women found that 84% of women had lost at least one relative in war.⁸ These women are unable to maintain even the most basic level of nutrition for their families.⁹

Access to Care

In 1996, only 4% of 160 surveyed Afghan women reported adequate or good access to health care.⁸ Most of these women found access to be much worse since the Taliban took over.⁸ Not only are women unable to receive services, they are also in more need of services. Nearly 3/4 of these women reported a decline in physical condition since Taliban rule began, and over half were in only fair or poor health.⁸ Access is restricted in many forms. Over half of the women were unable to seek medical care on at least one occasion when they were ill; the major barriers listed were access, economic barriers, and restrictive curfews.⁸

Health Education and Humanitarian Aid

Girls are not getting any formal education, much less health education. Health education is severely limited because of the ban placed on human images.⁵ Humanitarian efforts have largely been thwarted by the Taliban, as non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the United Nations (UN) have had to endure harrassment and threats just to remain in the country.⁵ In 1997, the Taliban required that humanitarian aid be administed to women only through close male relatives.⁵ These restrictions make it very difficult for assistance to be given to Afghan women.

Health and well-being must be linked to the protection of human rights.¹ When human rights are not protected, basic rights to health care, education, and basic needs are among the first to lost. If we do not promote human rights, we cannot ensure even the most basic health needs for Third World women.

Human rights must simultaneously be addressed by both governments and the people. Physcians for Human Rights suggest these actions:

Afghanistan Must:

• End discrimination.⁶
• Give criminals the right to due process.⁶
• Mandate that law enforcement must respect and protect human rights.⁶
• Hold law enforcement and security officers responsible for their human rights abuses.⁶

International Governments must:

• Reject any excuses made for human rights abuses.⁶
• Revoke United Nations representation to any government that supports human rights abuses.⁶
• Devise methods to hold governments accountable for their human rights abuses.⁶
• Monitor and publicize human rights abuses.⁶
• Restrict humanitarian aid to governments that refuse to make changes to support human rights.⁶
• Denounce governments that support and give aid to governments that support human rights abuses.⁶
• Designate women fleeing from an abusive government as refugees.⁶
• Include women in the United Nations peace talks for Afghanistan.⁸

Multinational Corporations must:

• Suspend investment in countries that support human rights abuses.⁶
• Specifically, UNOCAL, a U.S. energy company, must continue to refrain from building an oil pipeline through Afghanistan.⁷
• Telephone Systems International (TSI), a New Jersey-based telecommunications firm, must not continue to build a satellite-based system in Afghanistan.⁷

Health Providers must:

• Distribute aid based on need, and use distribution channel that guarrantee that women who need aid most receive it.⁶
• Protest restrictions on humanitarian work made by these governments.⁶
• Provide mental health services for women.⁶
• Extend services to refugees in nearby countries.⁶