Afghans Sceptical Over Promises On Women's Rights

Rights activists say that they are not convinced by a keynote speech by President Ashraf Ghani in which he promised a zero tolerance approach to discrimination against women in his administration.

"Any minister, deputy, director or any other government official who disrespects women will be dismissed," he told a meeting on female leadership within government institutions in Kabul on October 21.

He highlighted the difficulties posed by Afghanistan's male-dominated culture that meant that men often disregarded the ideas of female colleagues or authority figures.

"One of our biggest problems is culture of not listening to others because we just listen to ourselves," he said.

Ghani called for women to report incidences of discrimination to ensure the government could enforce and implement laws on gender equality.

However, his speech was greeted with some cynicism from activists and campaigners.

Liya Jawad is head of the Foundation of Solidarity for Justice, a group working with victims of violence in Afghanistan, and a member of the country's Transitional Justice Coordination Group.

She said that Ghani's speech would not affect a culture of impunity when it came to women's rights.

"Many cases of harassment, violence against women and other outrages are seen in government offices and often by high-ranking figures. Due to the fact that criminals are seniorofficials, the government is unable to react and take serious action against them. So misogyny and the abuse of women increase day by day."

No change would come without widespread reforms, Jawad continued.

"As long as the judicial departments aren't free of corruption, as long as cases of violence against women are not solved in a transparent way, and as long as those who violate women's rights evade punishment, it will be difficult to believe these emotional slogans in support of women."

Women's rights groups also had a lukewarm response to Ghani's speech.

Laal Gul, who chairs the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), said, "One of the biggest problems in Afghanistan is that the law is not enforced and it has caused people great harm. For example, we have a law on the prevention of violence against women, but it has not been implemented. If the law is not enforced, the orders and statements of the president also lack practical effect and will never be implemented."

The law on the prevention of violence against women, passed by presidential decree in 2009, was rejected by parliament in May 2013 after a 15-minute debate and has been shelved ever since.

AIHRC women's rights programme coordinator Latifa Sultani said that she appreciated the sentiments expressed by the president, but emphasised the need for such laws to be applied.

"The president's speech was appropriate and positive and I hope that his promises will be implemented in practice. As long as the law is not enforced on every criminal and violator, it will be difficult to give women their full rights."

Women had little faith in the justice system, she continued.

"Harassment and women's rights violations have increased in many [government] offices, but for various reasons they don't want to register their complaints and cases officially with the relevant organisations because of Afghanistan's security conditions," Sultani said. "We have just informally tracked some cases of rights violations against women so far."

Masooda Karokhi, who represents Herat in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, accused the president of being out of touch with the situation.

"The president can't have any information about the bitter and worsening conditions of women," she said. "Speaking out from within the presidential palace will never have any effect on women's lives… the president's speech won't ever make a positive difference for women in government offices."

Practical action was long overdue, Karokhi continued.

"Women should not be silent in the face of injustice," she said. "To protect women's rights, I suggest that the president should establish a consultation board composed of different government organisations which meant at monthly to exchange ideas and consult regarding the problems faced by women."

Shahla Fareed, a lecturer in law and political science at Kabul university, agreed that concrete measures were vital.

"To support and protect women's rights, the government should plan a single and united policy of leadership instead of emotional and sentimental sentences and slogans," she said. "This plan should be sent to all government offices so that all the officials follow it. The president should also monitor the plan."

Syed Hasan Mortazwi, the president's deputy spokesman, insisted that the administration was working hard to fulfill its commitments on gender rights.

"The national unity government acts as per its promises and these promises are not just limited to words and slogans," he said. "For example, we now have four women cabinet ministers, nine women deputy ministers and four women ambassadors and we also have a plan to hire thousands of women for the country's security forces."

Farzana Safai, head of access to justice in the ministry of women's affairs, acknowledged that there had been some progress, but warned that few had confidence of further improvement.

"Some limited work has been done to support and protect the rights of women, but it doesn't mean that everything is fine," she said. "The president's promises have not yet been met and people don't have much faith in their implementation."

This report was produced under IWPR's Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.