Since 1996 the Feminist Majority Foundation has worked to create awareness and action in response to the conditions of women and girls in Afghanistan. As we have known for many years, the conditions for all in Afghanistan, especially women and girls, have greatly deteriorated and demand a return to outrage and calls for action.
I am particularly disgusted by the attacks on young Afghan girls who seek an education. In addition to endless intimidation and threats, extremists have resorted to acid attacks and, most recently poisoning of 61 girls yesterday and an additional 84 young Afghan school girls today.
During the rule of the Taliban regime, Afghan girls were not allowed to attend school to receive an education, resulting in generations of illiteracy and lost promise. A recent Newsweek article tells of the great danger that has come with this new found opportunity.
The Afghanistan Ministry of Education says that 458 government schools (mostly in the south) are closed due to threats of violence, leaving 400,000 boys and girls at home. In the 2008 school year alone—from March 2008 to March 2009—22 students and teachers were injured (including a November acid attack that left 15 girls and teachers scarred in Kandahar province). Another 33 were killed, a ministry spokesperson reports.
In Home-Schooling, Sadiqa Basiri Saleem, a young Afghan woman, tells of her seven-year struggle to create schools for young girls in rural Afghanistan. Despite the dangers for all, students and teachers continue to come to the make-shift schools in the homes of private citizens with hopes of a brighter future for all of Afghanistan. I can only hope that it is a future that values the contributions and worth of women and girls.
Photo credit: Newsweek, Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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