Afghan Women Stilling Fighting for Rights

The plight of Afghan women has improved considerably in the past decade as a result of Western intervention, demise of the Taliban (at least in many parts of the country), an increase in medical clinics, more schools open for girls, and some segments of Afghan society becoming more protective of women. However there is much work that needs to be done. There is a great fear that the hard-won advances will slip away once the Afghan government starts peace talks in earnest with the Taliban. One stumbling block in providing additional protection to Afghan women is the difficulty in reconciling laws enacted by the Afghan parliament with Sharia law. The Afghan constitution says that all laws have to comply with Sharia or Islamic law. This has caused immense problems for supporters of women in passing laws that would protect women. For instance, there is wide support to pass a law stating that women cannot be forced to marry younger than age 16 yet this conflicts with Sharia law that says a father can give his daughter away in marriage at any age. Read more about the conflicts between any proposed Afghan parliamentary laws and Sharia law in "The Afghan Battle Over a Law to Protect Women", National Public Radio, February 20, 2013.