Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, center, stands with four of the five young women she invited to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham/File)
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. This international women’s rights bill defined discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field.”
Countries that have ratified CEDAW are legally required to implement its provisions.
In 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban government, which had been harboring the Al-Qaeda terror organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks earlier that year. By 2003, Afghanistan was in the process of forming a new government while the United States maintained a military presence. That same year, Afghanistan ratified the CEDAW.
Afghanistan’s new government eliminated the former regime’s harsh policies toward women.
The Taliban prohibited girls and women from going to school, working, leaving the house without a chaperone, and speaking in public. Afghanistan’s new constitution guaranteed women’s equality before the law, the right to an education, and the right to work. The CEDAW also provided for the gradual rather than immediate implementation of women’s rights. For the first five years, the advancement of women’s rights in Afghanistan alternated between steady progress and occasional setbacks.
In 2012, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was appointed by the United Nations as Special Envoy for Global Education. That same year, a Taliban gunman in neighboring Pakistan shot Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old activist who advocated for girls’ education. The gunman also shot Yousufzai’s 16-year-old classmate, Kainat Ahmad.
Both teenagers survived.
The media widely covered the shooting, sparking international outrage. From her hospital bed, Ahmad stated, “Girls’ education here is more important than boys’ because boys can do any type of work. However, girls can’t just do any sort of job. Girls must have respectable jobs so they can feel secure.”
Brown visited Yousufzai while she was recovering in the hospital. He started a petition calling for unrestricted education for all children in Pakistan by 2015. After meeting the teenage activist for girls’ education in Pakistan, Brown realized that ensuring a quality education for girls in countries that prohibit it is the global civil rights struggle of the 21st century.
While the United Nations focused on Taliban-related problems in Pakistan, a 2012 World Bank World Development Report titled Gender Equality and Development reported significant progress for Afghan women in all regions toward gender equality, and a 2012 Asian Foundation Survey found that 87 percent of Afghans agreed that men and women should have equal educational opportunities.
During a 2015 press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Brown called to strengthen the global commitment to defending the rights of schoolgirls. The next year, Donald Trump, who was adamant about withdrawing all American forces from Afghanistan, won the presidency of the United States.
In 2020, the Trump administration reached an agreement with the Afghan government and the Taliban to withdraw the US forces from Afghanistan. That same year, the progress report on women’s rights in Afghanistan since 2001 indicated numerous accomplishments. Women comprised 35% of public-school teachers, 27% of government employees, 20% of provincial council members, 12% of judges, and 10% of attorneys. Three million girls went to school, and one in every four university students was a woman.
Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, defeated Donald Trump in November 2020. The Biden administration withdrew the military from Afghanistan the next year. Unfortunately, the withdrawal turned into a tragedy when the Taliban reneged on previous agreements and launched a military campaign to retake the country.
When the Taliban reestablished their authority, they immediately set out to return Afghan women to a subordinate state.
According to the most recent United Nations human rights report, the Taliban has prohibited girls from attending secondary school and women from pursuing higher education in Afghanistan. The Taliban prohibits women and girls from visiting amusement parks, gyms, and sports clubs. The Taliban has prohibited women from working in NGO offices. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, they have fully barred women from public office and the judiciary. Women and girls in Afghanistan must now adhere to a rigorous dress code and cannot travel more than 75 kilometers without the presence of a male chaperone. Women across the country report feeling invisible, alienated, and suffocated, as if they were living in prison. Many women are unable to meet their basic needs in the absence of employment or assistance, including access to medical treatment and psychological support, particularly for victims of violence, such as sexual assault.
The report concluded, “It’s a sobering reminder of how swiftly and aggressively women’s and girls’ rights can be taken away.”