Breve testo sulla situazione delle donne a Kabul, dopo i bombardamenti, la guerra, l'odio, e dopo che i giornali si sono stancati dell'argomento.

by: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/afghan-women-2k2.htm

Since the U.S.-led alliance toppled the Taliban in November 2001, women and girls in Afghanistan have gained greater freedom to participate in public life and access to education, health care, and employment.1 This is the case particularly in the capital, Kabul, where the deployment of foreign military forces under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)2 has helped bring much-needed security. Even in Kabul, however, many Afghan women still face constant threats to their personal security from other civilians or armed men belonging to various political factions.

Outside Kabul, the situation is one of acute general lawlessness and insecurity, as there is no ISAF presence and rival warlords control security conditions. In these areas, more than in Kabul, Afghan women continue to face serious threats to their physical safety, which denies them the opportunity to exercise their basic human rights and to participate fully in the rebuilding of their country.

The danger of physical assault is evident throughout northern Afghanistan, where ethnic Pashtuns have been specifically targeted for violence and harassment, including sexual violence. During February and March 2002, Human Rights Watch documented cases of sexual violence against Pashtun women perpetrated by the three main ethnically based parties and their militias in the north. Many women described how they had to fight off attackers or hide young female relatives out of fear of rape.3 These attacks took place immediately following the fall of the predominantly Pashtun Taliban on November 9, 2001, in Mazar-i Sharif4 (hereafter, Mazar), the largest city in northern Afghanistan, leaving it and the surrounding areas in the control of the three main rival factions competing for territory.5 These factions include the predominantly ethnic Uzbek Junbish-i Milly-yi Islami of General Abdul Rashid Dostum the predominantly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-e Islami led in Mazar-i Sharif by Ustad Atta Mohammad, and the ethnic Hazara Hizb-i Wahdat, led in the north by Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq.6

These three factions signed a U.N.-backed agreement on February 3, 2002, establishing a 600-person multi-ethnic security force for the city, headed by Junbish commander Majid Rouzi. However, general lawlessness and insecurity prevail.7 Although lawlessness is a critical issue for all Afghans, the lack of physical security has affected women in gender-specific ways, making them especially vulnerable to rape and other sexual abuse. Although Pashtun women in the north have been specifically targeted for sexual violence, during February and March 2002, Human Rights Watch researchers also gathered credible evidence of continuing politically or ethnically motivated sexual violence against women and girls of other ethnicities in Mazar. Women in Mazar reported that they live under constant fears of physical assault and feel compelled to limit their movement, expression, and dress to avoid becoming targets of such violence by armed civilians or armed men aligned with the three main ethnically based parties.

Gender-specific violence has also taken on a potentially deadly dimension elsewhere. Women continue to be assaulted or abused for not adhering to former Taliban edicts that strictly controlled women's behavior, dress, expression, and movement. In the second week of April, for example, Reuters reported an acid attack on a female teacher in Kandahar, after handwritten pamphlets were found circulating in the city warning men against sending their daughters to school or their wives to work. A previously unknown militant group named Tanzeem al-Fatah Afghanistan ("organization for the victory of Afghanistan") allegedly distributed the pamphlets. Reportedly, Kandahar authorities arrested the accused man and thirty-seven others named by the man, five of whom were wearing Afghan military uniforms when apprehended.8 Although the Interim Administration has publicly endorsed the right of women to obtain an education and employment, the lack of an official repeal of Taliban edicts by the Justice ministry is a significant concern for many women Human Rights Watch interviewed. Women felt that an official and public rescinding of all the Taliban edicts would go a long way in fostering their confidence in the government and in providing them with the legal ability to challenge gender-specific discriminatory attitudes.

One consequence of this violence and insecurity is the continuing invisibility of women in many areas of public life. If women cannot travel freely within their communities and country, they cannot participate in the rebuilding of Afghanistan during this critical period. More broadly, women's representation and participation in the future government of Afghanistan could be undermined. On April 15, Afghanistan began the process of choosing its next government to replace the Interim Administration. One hundred and sixty women representatives are guaranteed seats in this process and others may be elected to non-reserved seats. However, women face considerable challenges in this process, which include entrenched traditional attitudes in Afghanistan constraining women from participating in political processes, as well as security concerns inhibiting women from traveling to regional centers to cast ballots.9 Such representation is crucial to ensure that women's rights are at the core of all governance arrangements, including post-conflict reconstruction, justice, and accountability. Both Interim Administration officials and senior United Nations (U.N.) representatives emphasized this point at a meeting on March 8 in Kabul to commemorate International Women's Day, when they stressed that a peaceful and secure environment is necessary to implement reconstruction and rehabilitation programs designed for women.10