Girls' experience in Afghanistan has changed in the recent past. According to Trust in Education (2005), Girls in Afghanistan had no fundamental rights and they went through torture and rape. Girls were not allowed to attend school or get any form of employment. However, after the fall of the Taliban rule in 2001, the situation changed. Girls now enjoy fundamental rights like boys though not entirely. Skaine, (2001). This paper will discuss the life that Afghan Girls went through 16 years ago and after the fall of the Taliban rule.
Before 2001, girls in Afghanistan married as early as 14 years. The early marriages formed a 60% of the girls getting married before the age of 16 years. Skaine, (2002). According to the Trust in Education Organization (2005), 80 percent of these marriages occurred unwillingly for Girls. Girls went through this situation mainly as a way of resolving disputes and settling debts. Due to the poverty levels in Afghanistan, some of the parents would force their girls to get married to wealthy men for the dowry.
Another challenge for Afghan girls was schooling. According to Trust in Education, 40% of girls had the chance to attend elementary school with one in 20 girls going as far as the sixth grade. The Taliban forbid girls from attending classes and forced them to stay at home. According to Skaine,(2002), girls would only walk around accompanied by their male relatives and wear the burqa covering their entire body.
After the fall of the Taliban, several reforms took place in education and the constitution. According to the Trust in Education, there was a 30% increase in girls enrolment in school. The legal age for marriage was raised from 16 years to 17 years. The raising of the lawful marriage age helped to stop early marriages although the adherence to this law is yet to gain full realization.
According to the United Nations Enable, every human being has the right to freedom of expression and Right to Equal Protection before the Law and the Freedom of movement. Afghan girls have been denied these rights and this makes the main reason why we should care about the life of these girls. The feeling of living as a prisoner in your own country is not something to live by. Whether one is a citizen in Afghanistan or not, we all have a part to play to transform the lives of the Afghan girls. This is, therefore, everyones mandate to take part in creating a better society in Afghanistan.
The main reason why we should care about the life of girls in Afghanistan is that, for a country to prosper there should be equal rights for all. Education forms the pillar for the development of every nation. Therefore, the Afghanistan government should invest more in education especially for the girls. Investing in girls Education will improve their literacy levels hence provide a skilled population for economic development. The primary solution to this problem is to invest in Girls education. Girls will know their rights and how to stand for them and also be able to contribute in both social and economic activities for the development of the country and eradicate poverty.
Reference
United Nations Enable. The Resource : Part IV. Towards a Rights Based Perspective on disability, 2/3. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/comp401.htm
Trust in Education (n.d). Life as an Afghan woman. Retrieved January 08, 2018, from http://www.trustineducation.org/resources/life-as-an-afghan-woman/
Skaine, R. (2002). The women of Afghanistan under the Taliban. McFarland: Jefferson, N.C.
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