Betrayal

Equality for women was non-existent in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Today, although girls and women in Kabul and some other cities are free to go to school and have jobs, this is not the case in most parts of the country. Armed local warlords have their own rules and governments which brutalize people--especially women. In some areas where girls' education does exist, parents are too afraid to allow their daughters to take advantage of it, following the burning down of several girls' schools. Girls have been abducted on the way to school, and sexual assaults on children of both sexes are now commonplace. The "war on terrorism" has toppled the Taliban, but with the warlords back in power, one misogynist fundamentalist regime has been replaced with another. Yet there is resistance. Last year, strong voices of opposition against fundamentalists were heard from the women in the traditional Loya Jirga assembly. And the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is continuing its efforts towards freedom, democracy, secularism and women's rights. Afghan women cannot fight for their rights without education. For this reason, we have concentrated on raising awareness, organizing women in the legal and social sectors, and increasing education and literacy among them. Armed with education, Afghan women cannot continue to be ignored.