London Review of Books, 31 August 2017
May Jeong’s alternative look at assassinations of women in Kandahar:
(…) millions (…) were spent on gender initiatives. (…) The money encouraged some women, mostly the daughters of already enlightened families, to go out into the world. A fifth of parliamentary seats were reserved for women. The police and the army recruited female officers (…) Women became mayors, then ministers, then presidential candidates. Abroad, this was hailed as progress.
Meanwhile, the less powerful women were being assassinated. The Taliban was blamed. But the people I spoke to in Kandahar saw things differently. Many of the women appeared to have been killed not by the Taliban, but by their own relatives.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Mar 2020
