Women in Afghanistan have been facing discriminatory behavior from their fellow beings. The parochial social attitude and the obsolete norms and values have treated them as inferior beings and have made them suffer indiscriminately. Even violence has been used by men to ‘control’ them and to show the dominancy of male members of the society.
Afghanistan has been a society suffering from myriads of problems, among which instability and insecurity have been the most dominant ones. The wars and clashes in the country have influenced all factions and aspects of society and the weaker factions, in particular, have been greatly influenced. The miseries of wars and backwardness have been doubled for the weaker factions; especially for women amongst them.
There have not been major efforts to uplift the position of women in the society as most of the efforts have been directed towards the other factors. Women have been highly neglected and their role and status have been fully underestimated. The Afghan concerned authorities and institutions have not been able to play a very effective role in this regard and even after the formation of a democratic setup, the women are deprived of even their very basic rights.
The society on the other hand has also forgotten its responsibility towards women and it is really pathetic to observe that there are no major movements and efforts to bring the women out of miseries. Even the close and family relations have not supported women and have left them suffer in the quagmire of despair.
Nonetheless, there are some minor efforts by some of the females in Afghan society that are meant to disseminate awareness in the society and also show that women have the potential to participate in the different fields just like men. A similar type of effort was carried out by the females in Bamyan province on Monday August 25, 2014. About fifteen females took part in a cycle race aimed at creating awareness about women’s rights and elimination of violence against them in central Bamyan province. They pedaled a five-kilometre route from the Gymnasium Road in Bamyan City to the Ring Road, as a huge crowd watched and clapped to encourage the participants. Each cyclist tried to win the race but it was Zakia Mohammadi who came first and Zuhra finished second while Seema got third position. The three women were awarded cups and other prizes.
Zakia told news reporters that the aim of their participation in the race was to show females had the ability to take part in any kind of sports competitions. She said there were no problems for female athletes openly participating in games. “Our message to other Afghan women is that they should be confident and try to have equal rights.”
Bamyan Sports Director Mohammad Kabir Toofan said the race -- supported by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the department of women’s affairs -- was part of the campaign to eliminate violence against women.
Such events are really helpful in making the people understand that women have the capability to participate in those walks of life as well that are, otherwise, considered abominable for them. Unfortunately, in Afghan society women are considered to be capable of only performing household chores and they are not allowed to leave their houses in order to pursue any profession or participate in social and political lives.
Nonetheless, the time has arrived when the society must understand that without the active participation of women in different walks of life it would be really difficult for Afghan society to make true development. Women form almost half of the population and neglecting them participation in social, economic and political lives means giving away the opportunity for progress and advancement.