Women in Afghanistan: facing tough times

Afghanistan, August 22: Targeted violence against women, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world’s most dangerous country in which to be born a woman. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and denied women education and jobs, forced them indoors and violently punished them for infractions of a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women accused of adultery were stoned to death; those who flashed a bare ankle from under the shroud of a burqa were whipped. More than a decade after the ouster of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan many women still suffer domestic violence, discrimination and lack of access to unbiased justice. For girls, going to school daily is no regular affair. Most of these girls risk their lives by walking to school, as there is a chance they may be attacked by hard-liners, who believe women should not be educated.