The New Humanitarian, 9 July 2021
The former UN – now independent – news service put AAN research into their “on the radar” category:
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Rural Afghan women on peace, war, and ‘our role in society’
Greater freedom, better education, more control over their lives – the push for women’s rights doesn’t stop at the city limits, according to new research from the Afghanistan Analysts Network. The Kabul-based research group interviewed rural Afghan women, including in areas recently overrun by the Taliban, about their hopes and fears as instability swells. “Peace can change how women are treated in our society,” said one woman. “We’ll be able to learn about our rights and find our role in society.” Women’s views have taken a backseat during months of stalled Taliban peace talks, and advocates fear they’ll backslide further as international forces leave and the Taliban rapidly gains ground. The reports’ authors say the research challenges the notion that rural Afghan women would be satisfied with supposed gender norms imposed by conservative groups or the Taliban – or that women’s rights are only a priority for an urban elite. “Dreams of greater agency for Afghan women are not the exclusive domain of those who can speak up publicly,” the researchers concluded. “The priorities of rural women are not that different from those put forward by the more well-connected women activists.”
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This article was last updated on 16 Jul 2021
