Amid cabinet setback, Afghan women face slow political climb

Though a group of women parliamentarians worked together to campaign against the Shi'ite Personal Status Law, female politicians are a diverse group, and efforts to organize around common goals have proven difficult.

Many members of the Afghan parliament are political independents, and party affiliations are often viewed with suspicion based on the country's experience with civil war and repressive governance. Almost all of the 84 political parties registered with Afghanistan's Ministry of Justice are run by men, though female lawmaker Fatima Nazari successfully established the country's first political party for women's causes in February 2008.

But not all women lawmakers can be considered progressive when it comes to gender politics. "Many warlords nominated their daughters, their wives, their cousins, and only a few female parliamentarians are really outspoken," Dr. Babak Khalatbari, country director for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, told Deutsche Welle. That development was seen as one way of bypassing an electoral rule that disqualified candidates with links to private militia.

Meanwhile, more vocal female parliamentarians face a political culture shaped by traditional conceptions of power, wherein politics is considered a male realm. Entrenched opposition to women in political office is deeply rooted and potentially life-threatening for women. According to a recent HRW report, every female parliamentarian interviewed by the organization said she had been threatened or intimidated.

Elections pose a potential security challenge for female candidates and voters in Afghanistan

The report also cited data collected in 17 Afghan provinces by UNIFEM in 2008, when the organization recorded 10 murders of women working in public positions, from teachers to politicians. Recent cases include the September 2008 assassination of top Kandahar policewoman Malalai Kakar, and the murder of Sitara Achakzai, a provincial council member and human rights activist, less than six months later.

This "culture of fear and impunity," the HRW report read, "will be a strong deterrent to women who consider entering public life." UNIFEM’s Theresa de Langis told Deutsche Welle that her organization had received reports from women who considered the risks too high to attempt a run for office.

"The less secure it is outside the home, the less able women will be to claim public space," she said.

Elections pose a particularly intractable security problem for both female candidates and voters. Consistent security measures and organized protection for female candidates was lacking during the 2009 elections, making it difficult for women to pursue their campaigns.

Ahead of parliamentary elections slated for May 22, experts worry that Afghanistan's perilous security situation will again endanger female voters and candidates. The Taliban threatened to punish Afghans casting ballots in the presidential election, and the fear is that this year's vote will provoke a second wave of intimidation, or even potential attacks on government and civilian targets.

Dr. Khalatbari said the upcoming vote would serve a very important purpose. "The next parliamentary election in Afghanistan is a very special litmus test for the future of the country," he told Deutsche Welle.

Karzai's administration hopes to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan through talks with moderate Taliban

Meanwhile, Afghan women's political way forward remains uncertain, particularly as Karzai's government plans to push for reconciliation talks with Taliban leaders by reintegrating former fighters. Both German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and US government officials have indicated support for dialog between the Afghan government and moderate members of the Taliban.

In his inauguration speech on November 19, President Karzai pledged to make addressing the insurgency his main goal. Though women's rights advocates acknowledge the need to improve security in Afghanistan, they worry that talks with the Taliban could reverse the gains achieved both by and for women in political and public life since 2001.

For their part, Afghanistan's female parliamentarians insist that any negotiation strategy should not allow for a compromise on women’s rights.

"Afghanistan cannot go back to its previous life," lawmaker Shinkai Karokhail said. "We have to go forward."

Author: Amanda Price
Editor: Rob Mudge