Afghanistan Women: Better off today

OpinionJournal - Extra: "While progress has been uneven from region to region, and hampered by security problems and backward attitudes, the latest United Nations report on the status and standing of women in Afghanistan observes that women have 'made historic gains, with the support of the international community,' and that in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Taliban, 'women came to the fore of the political life in the country and contributed to the new constitution, which clearly affirms equality between men and women.'"

Kuwaitis demonstrate for women's suffrage: "Around 500 Kuwaiti activists, mostly women, have demonstrated outside parliament to demand female suffrage amidst tensions in the Gulf Arab state over a government drive to grant women political rights.

'Women's rights now,' chanted the crowd, which included women dressed in abayas, or traditional long black cloaks. Some of the demonstrators at Monday's protest wore veils over their faces.

'Our democracy will only be complete with women,' said a placard written in Arabic. 'We are not less, you are not more. We need a balance, open the door,' said one written in English.

The crowd later attended a parliamentary session which approved a state request for a committee to speed up reviewing a bill allowing women to vote and run for parliament."

The spread of democracy in the Middle East will help all women in that region. But not everyone views it as progress. From the web site of the National Organization of Women:

What Now for the Women of Afghanistan and Iraq?: "Although the Bush Administration used the mistreatment of Afghan women as a factor to justify military action and pledged to restore their rights post-conflict, Afghan women have yet to see the promise of social equality fulfilled. The Taliban has been chased from the country, to be replaced in the countryside by warlords who differ only slightly from their predecessors. As a result, the women of Afghanistan still suffer from many of the same hardships that they faced before the war.

Since the fall of the Taliban, there have been some improvements in women's rights in terms of access to education and employment. However, most gains for Afghan women have been made in Kabul, where an international peacekeeping force is stationed. Outside of the capital city it is a very different story. Regional commanders, who are often former warlords, govern cities and provinces with an iron fist, many just like the Taliban. Police officers often force Afghan women to wear the traditional burqa in public, a practice most in the U.S. assumed was long over."

Because things are immediately resolved, it is a bad thing. These kinds of changes take time and we need to encourage the direction. I believe that things are getting better for women and also they certainly have a long way to go. These are not conflicting statements, just a recognition that it is a long road that the Afghan people have started down. The US is still on the road and we haven't hit the end yet.

At the same time, giving the impression that it is all over except for a few bombings isn't right either. There is an amazing amount of work that will need to be done for years to come and downplaying that is a mistake.