Rights of Afghan Women Since the US Invasion Essay -- Afghan Womens R

As a result of the US invasion of Afghanistaniistan, the issue of Afghan womens rights came to the world stage. Through the media, populations of first-world countries saw firsthand the terrible oppression of Afghan women. One such instance was the famous picture of the Afghan miss published in the National Geographic magazine, which became an international symbol for the plight of Afghan women. The United States and Afghan governments come repeatedly obstructed the progression of Afghan womens rights, causing womens quality of life to decline, womens education to suffer, and womens representation in government to be limited.Womens rights in Afghanistan have not always been suppressed. Throughout the early 1900s to the mid-1900s, women were free to travel unaccompanied. King Amanullah constructed schools for girls and passed laws eliminating arranged marriages (Kolhatkar, 2013). In the early 1950s, the government outlawed the Islamic principle of purdah, or gender separation. Mor eover, the government granted Afghan women the right to vote in 1965, a year earlier than American women, and by the early 1960s, held half of any legislative posts (Women, 2013). King Amanullah even made the burqa, the symbol of oppression, optional and encouraged a Western style of dress (Kolhatkar, 2013). When the Taliban came to power in 1996, all of that changed. The Taliban believed it was their avocation to protect women and their familys honor. Enforcing a version of Sharia, or Islamic law and drawing principles from the Pashtunwali, or traditional social code, the Taliban effectively banned women from release to school, studying, working, leaving the house without a male relative to accompany them, showing any skin while in public settings, ... ...bglj Levi, S. (2009, September). The long, long struggle for womens rights in Afghanistan. Origins Current Events in Historical Perspective, 2(12). Retrieved from http//origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-women-s-rights -afghanistanMahr, K. (2014, April 14). Waiting for the Taliban. Time, 183(14), 24-38.McCurry, S. (1984, December). Afghan girl Photograph. National Geographic. Retrieved from http//photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/ photographers/afghan-girl-cover.htmlPeace unveiled Television episode. (2011, October 25). In P. Hogan, G. Reticker, A. E. Disney, & C. Rizzi (Producer), Women, war and peace. New York, NY PBS.Women in Afghanistan The back story. (2013, October 25). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Amnesty International UK website http//www.amnesty.org.uk/womens-rights-afghanistan-history.U0If0FzxWP8