One of the biggest accomplishments of post-Taliban Afghanistan is the opening of schools for girls and boys. According to UNICEF, today more than 8 million children go to school. This is a tremendous accomplishment especially if one takes into account the fact that in 2001, the number was in the thousands and girls’ schools were all closed. However even today many Afghan girls in rural areas rarely finish high school, let alone go to university.
I live in Sar-e-Pul in northern Afghanistan and most girls around me don’t finish high school and getting a higher education is still a privilege. There are many obstacles that prevent girls from reaching their full potential and completing their formal education.
1. The Taliban have left, but their mentality remains: Perhaps the most persistent obstacle is the existence of cultural norms that are used to justify preventing girl’s education. There are many girls who don’t go to school or work because their parents, husbands or extended family don’t see it as fitting for women. Even today, Taliban rules remain in people’s minds and in our society. Many families still don’t allow girls to go outside their homes without a male companion or a burqa. Many argue that girls are going to get married and go to their husband’s house so education is of no use to them. Despite all these misconceptions and barriers, the women of Sar-e-Pul, like the rest of Afghanistan, have unbreakable resilience and continue to fight for their rights. I know women and girls who risk family violence to teach each other reading and writing. I know a woman who helps her neighbor with her housework so they can go to literacy classes together. Women and girls now know that our economic empowerment and independence is dependent on our education and we are breaking barriers and empowering ourselves and others.
2. Insecurity haunts civilians: Lack of security is a serious problem for people around the country and my province is not an exception, however in Sar-e-Pul we are able to more or less control insecurity. Our national security forces are able to stand their ground against terrorists who attack schools, but we must invest real time to change the Taliban-inspired views that exist in our own families and communities. Last year, Sar-e-Pul was on the verge of falling into the hands of Taliban and our schools were disrupted by insecurity, but this year we are already seeing an improvement. Even when the Taliban were close to gaining control of our province, girls continued going to schools and universities when they could. In the last few years, our schools have been attacked through poisoning of water and classrooms but this hasn’t stopped our teachers or classmates. This gives me courage and pride but insecurity continues to prevent many girls from going to school.
3. Child and forced marriages are still prevalent: Another major barrier to girls’ education is forced and early marriage. Even today, most Afghan girls marry before they reach the age of 18, which is usually the year of high school completion. There are girls in my neighborhood who were forced into marriage when they were 13 or 14. Immediately after the marriage or even the engagement, these girls are prohibited from continuing their schooling. These marriages are not healthy. They hurt women. They hurt their families and they hurt the family’s children. I’ve heard many stories of girls committing suicide because of forced marriage and even if they leave, the emotional harm caused by forced marriage often stays with women for the rest of their lives. We have to prioritize ending child marriages. It has ruined enough lives already.
4. Rampant street harassment discourages girls from going to schools. People often dismiss street harassment as harmless or funny- but it is neither. A recent study by Women and Children Legal Research Foundation shows that nine in 10 women interviewed in seven provinces in Afghanistan said they had expressed harassment. In addition, 14% of those who experienced it at school or university dropped out. This is a problem for women in my province as well. The majority of school girls have faced street harassment and many have left their education because of it. I must mention that here most women wear blue or black burqas that cover their entire bodies and still they are not immune to harassment. The argument that we should cover ourselves to stop this problem is baseless and part of the problem. Until our men learn to respect women street harassment won’t end.
To ensure the education of Afghanistan’s girls, and by extension the prosperity of our country, we have to make women’s safety and security a priority. Afghan girls face terrorism and Taliban’s attacks for going to schools, we shouldn’t have to live in fear of street harassment and forced marriage as well. I believe that the men of my country and my nation can be better and do better for women. They have the ability to stand up and defend women’s rights- when will we do so?
—
Read this piece in Persian here.