Broken Promises, Dreams Burning, and Generations Lost: The Anguish of Afghan Women
Reflections from Dr. Roopa Dhatt, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Women in Global Health, and a practicing physician in Washington, D.C.
After the eve of August 31, 2021, I cry with my Afghan Sisters. It is not my story to tell. Nor my lived experience. Though it is my duty as a woman to woman; sister to sister; and human to human to not stand in silence, as the darkest shadows of evil overtake a land of 40 million people, leaving its people to a fate few of us can even imagine.
I spent the past week, one of the longest weeks, listening to the pain and desperation of my Afghan Sisters. Their voices loud and clear, through their pain and fear they call for action and for us not to forget them and not to compromise their rights. They say, if you, as women advocates, don’t see us, no one will see us. They remind us that Afghan women did not start or call for war, did not drive terrorist attacks, did not call for occupation or ask external powers to engage in talks with the men from the terrorist organizations who drove that suffering and destruction.
Over the decades Afghan women have not been invited to the peace negotiations in equal numbers to men. Women carry and give birth to the next generation, their struggle and care grows families, communities and societies, their work — paid and unpaid, recognized and not recognized — is the critical foundation for Afghan society. Yet women have not had an equal voice in shaping the future of the society built on their work. It is Afghan women who have always paid the highest price for the failure of those talks and the failure of occupation with their lives and the lives of their mothers, sisters, and daughters.
The rights of women and girls have always been seen as ‘collateral damage’ to be given away in negotiations with men who oppose women’s rights by men who don’t believe women’s rights are important enough to be negotiated for. One of the biggest questions the international community must ask itself as Afghanistan regresses back into violence, destitution, and chaos, is how different the present in Afghanistan would have been if women had shaped its future?
I find it difficult to write a piece on the plight of Afghan women, as it is not my story to tell, but as women in Afghanistan find their voices silenced and erased, as a sister in solidarity, I will not stand in silence. I do not experience their pain and suffering, but I can share in their grief, as glimmers of hope slowly dwindle. I can listen to their voices and support them in being heard. I can rally with them as they call for action.
Coming from an ethnic group which continues to value boys more than girls, where girls are killed before they are born and the lives of boys are worth their weight in gold, I can imagine the world that Afghan women are now cast deeper into. A world where more girls will be forced into child marriage and frequent childbearing, where girls and women will face violence and trauma, having to live in servitude to the men who are their violators and oppressors. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on the planet and set to be plunged deeper into hunger and malnutrition. I know the sacrifices women will make to feed their children, helpless as many die in infancy and childhood.
I find it hard to witness broken promises, dreams burning, and generations lost after the girls and women of Afghan were able to imagine a different world. Girls and women were “empowered” and guided to aspire for so much more. Despite threats to their lives and assassinations women took their place in public life. Women were 27% of Afghanistan’s parliamentarians before the recent Taliban takeover — the same percentage as USA.
And now it is the accomplishments of women that are the greatest threat they face. They are burning their accomplishments from their prizes to their diplomas, erasing any trace of their identity. With each breath, livelihoods, dignity, mental and physical health and well-being, and the lives of girls and women are being lost.
In the health sector alone, we are seeing catastrophic effects with the health system falling apart. Like most health systems globally,the Afghan health system depends on women in the health workforce — from physicians, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and community health workers, women are vital for a functioning health system and in turn, the stability of society. Estimates are that 5/10 Afghan community health workers, 4/10 of nurses and 1/5 of physicians are women and an additional 4,000 midwives have been trained in the past two decades. They have been providing access to health services for women and children and also to the whole community that would not be possible otherwise. With the current uncertainty, rapid deterioration of women’s rights and messages in many parts of the country that women should not go to work, many women in the health workforce are in a state of fear and have gone into hiding or fled the country, knowing that they will be targeted for their work on health issues such as sexual reproductive health and rights; child trafficking and marriage; gender-based violence; and maternal, neonatal and child health. I have spoken at length with some, and it is devastating to see their life’s work now becoming the biggest threat to their safety and the safety of their families.
An Afghan nurse told me that the Taliban in Kabul have already asked for girls aged 13 or older to be registered as ready for marriage. As she told me this, she burst into tears, telling me that her 14-year-old daughter is now on the list and has asked her mother’s permission to commit suicide rather than be forced into sexual slavery masquerading as marriage. Another Afghan woman health provider has been scrambling to leave the country after being placed on a target list for her work on women’s rights and health. The Taliban have taken her sister this week. She is moving from place to place in hiding hoping for an escape before her life is taken. This is the reality for thousands of women in Afghanistan now. As a female physician, I cannot imagine my profession, one that is dedicated to saving lives, becoming the greatest threat to my life.
This past weekend in a state of bleakness, I stood with my Afghan sisters in protest in Washington DC. We marched to the White House, facing the doors of the American Government. I was in complete awe of their courage and bravery. Afghan sisters, from all walks, spoke from their hearts and minds, calling for solidarity, action, and accountability, while reminding us of the historical trespass that girls and women in their country have endured without any say or choice. They spoke of the evils that their mothers, sisters and daughters are facing. They spoke about how their humanity was being stripped by the Taliban, as they were reminded again that women are regarded as lesser human beings and their emotions, hopes and dreams have no place on this Earth. They spoke about how their sisters and daughters are preparing for death to avoid the worst of the worst — being sex slaves to the Taliban. They rejected the blame put upon them this week, as global leaders called the Afghan people weak and cowards.
They did not let anyone think for a moment that they were victims or vulnerable women, they changed the narrative. With confidence, they told us they do not need saving and that the women of Afghanistan are resilient. They need people outside Afghanistan to stand with them and remind our leaders and governments of the promises made that must be kept. They called for no compromises to be made when it comes to the rights of girls and women.
I listened carefully. The part of me that felt hopeless saw clarity. The gender advocate in me was filled with fury. The pain in their voices is a contagious spark, inspiring all of us — girls, women and allies — to show solidarity. We chanted –“Biden and Harris do not abandon Afghan women’’. It was cathartic, even if we were the only ones hearing each other, with each shout, the tears washed away, and our collective power grew. It is important to not let our sisters be silenced and erased as history deals another bitter blow for Afghan girls and women.
The plight of Afghan Women is their story to share. As the clouds cast an unimaginable wrath of fear, darkness, and violence over the world for many Afghan girls and women, we must listen to them and be guided by their asks of us: solidarity, action, and accountability. This is the moment that all women and allies must stand with the women in Afghanistan. We must show solidarity by seeking their stories and lived experiences and making sure they are given platforms where they are heard and listened to. This is the moment that we must not be silent bystanders. We must practice allyship by using our power and privilege to mobilize, advocate, garner commitments and hold to account our leaders. We must do this with humility, using one’s influence, network, and resources to support the asks of Afghan Women, without any expectations.
At Women in Global Health, we challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health. It is clear at this moment we must stand together with women and fight for the rights of all girls and women. An assault on one woman, is an assault on all of us. They come for our Afghan sisters today, in doing so, they are coming for us. We must stand together with Afghan Women. Women’s rights are human rights! At stake are the rights of our generation and generations to come. Let’s stand together, collectively our power is unstoppable!
