Another Blogging Blog

Where to start? No, I am not referring to the fact that this is the first post here, I am instead referring to my open jaw, behind which are crowded a thousand exasperated and angry thoughts, too bloated to elbow past one another and escape into words. The issue: human rights in Afghanistan. More specifically: the rights of women under a proposed new law for Shiites.

Newspaper photographs and television pictures of women demonstrating on the streets of Kabul transform me into a virtual spectator, standing there on the sidelines in awe and admiration of  their bravery. Theirs is a world dominated by religious dogma and their opposing gender, who, over the centuries, have been endowed with all the power and control over their society.

They are demonstrating against a proposed law that will effectively give a man the right to rape and imprison his wife (Shiite men can have up to four wives).  The present laws are already heavily biased to favour the rights of men, but this one really is the icing on the cake and has elicited swift condemnation from around the world.

Dogs and whores they call them. The men rush in to protest the demonstration, wielding primitive weapons and threatening violence. The women, their targets of abuse, are prepared for this and readily flee. They’ve come to expect this kind of a response, having suffered this familiar male aggression for far too long.

All Afghan men cannot be tarred with the same brush, but if that group of men is anything to go by, it is a clear indication of the low regard with which many of them see the female sex. Perhaps surprising are the women that sided with those men. Many women in Afghanistan accept the status quo and think the rest of the world should stop meddling in their affairs. Supporters of this law view it as the proper implementation of Islamic justice.

Let us be clear, this is not simply another women’s rights and equality issue; this is a human rights issue. A society so wrapped up in uncivilised and anachronistic ways of thinking is doomed never to progress. Boys and girls will learn that their fathers and other men folk are the masters and that women raise children, keep home and do as they are told. They will grow up, adopt those roles and perpetuate the cycle. And until the shackles are removed, women will not be able to choose other meaningful careers and pursuits, which is a sad loss for their communities and their country.

This is a human rights issue. The rest of the world cannot turn a blind eye. Concern for the welfare of your fellow humans does not stop at national borders or at the barriers constructed to shield religion from criticism. These people need the security to exercise free speech and to afford themselves an education. Loosening the chains of backwards thinking is the start of that human endeavor and the activists deserve all the support in the world.