The Afghan state, Afghan civil society and the international community must adapt key Afghan social, religious, economic and cultural-normative structures and institutions in ways that are favorable to women’s enduring empowerment and development.
Kabul- 02 February 2014- The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO) said in a new report (Women in the Eyes of Men:Tackling the Structural Roots of Women’s Problems in Afghanistan) released today that Afghan women remain a marginal force after years of international investment in Afghanistan. International assistance was largely focused on short-term projects, neglecting to address women’s structural impediments. Fearing backlash, the Afghan government equally shied away from targeting institutional features that keep women subservient to patriarchal and masculine structures and out of mainstream developments.
Exploring structural problems, the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO carried out a grassroots level research with Afghan men. The central objective was to engage with men and find out how they see women and women’s problems and what long-term solutions they offer to institutional problems. Applying innovative methodologies of research, the project engaged with men in community levels. In addition, it conducted targeted focus group discussions and interviews with men who had represented key male-dominated societal power structures such as family, the religious establishment, the public sphere, the market place and culture and traditions linked to these structures.
The geographical scope of the project spanned five important regions such as Bamiyan, Herat, Kabul, Balkh and Nangahar. Overall, more than 3900 persons were interviewed and spoken to across the five regions: 606 in Mazar, 756 in Herat, 1076 in Kabul and 782 in Nangarhar and 682 in Bamyan.
“Afghan men’s attitudinal and behavioral orientations largely appear to be discouraging, cynical, and at times aggressive and suppressive towards women. Characterized by parochialism, suspicion, violence and control, the men largely view women as subordinates and often treat them either with denigration or negligence in decision making and power projections” said Khudadad Bsharat, AHRDO’s Executive Director.
Interactions during the research interviews revealed that Afghan men dominate key institutions and social structures that not only influence, but also shape and configure, women’s lives in public and private realms. In part, patriarchal family structures, a male-driven-and-led religious establishment, an unsafe public space, the male dominated market place and conservative culture and traditions considerably restrain women both privately and publicly. Women face complex structural forces that tacitly and expressly affect their lives and negatively impact their ability to change their situation.
“Alongside the restricting social norms and values, women’s lack of access to market place has kept them impoverished, marginalized and disempowered. Their non-productive role in the economic sector has played an important part in their complex subordination and has significantly contributed to a web of unequal power relations. This subordinate status cannot be turned around unless women’s entry into the local market force is facilitated and thereby turning them into contributive factor to the family-social economy and more broadly to the entire society” said Khudadad Bisharat.
After years of short-termism and disjointed investment, the time has come both for the Afghan state, Afghan civil society and the international community to place Afghan women’s problems within broader socio-cultural, economic, and religious structures and help adapt these structures and institutions in ways that are favorable to women’s enduring empowerment and development.
For further information please contact:
In Kabul, Khudadad Bisharat (Dari/English) 0093783636707
In Kabul, Nik Mohammad Sharif (Pashtu) 0093776761784
In London, Ghulam Sakhi (Dari/English) 00447956757866
Download Full Report in English: Eng -Full Report of Women in the Eyes of Men
