It is beyond doubt that violence against women is still a controversial topic across the country that mostly media go into feeding frenzy over such stories. Sexual harassment, domestic violence, forced and early marriages, social restrictions and traditional cultures are the common challenges targeting women every now and then. The reaction of women is usually self-burning, committing suicide, getting divorce, etc. Furthermore, women are deemed inferior, especially in villages and traditional cultures. They face difficulties not only in private but also in public life.

Commonly, there will be nobody without knowing a story of violence against women. I remember vividly a moving story of rape victim when I was a teacher in Daikundi Province just five months ago.  Shakila, a teenage school girl, was always passing her neighbors’ houses when she was going to school. One morning, as usual, when she was about to pass one of her neighbors’ home on her way to school, she was waylaid and raped by an eighty-year-old man of her neighborhood. He did the action to avenge when his wife was raped by the father of the same girl many years ago. Even though, her father was imprisoned as punishment for many years in the country for his crime, the old man still kept his animosity. It was deeply moving when no one was listening to her father who was talking in profound frenzy of emotion and pain.

On the other hand, there were also some institutions, governmental organizations, NGOs, Human Rights Organization, Woman Rights, civil activists and many more feministic groups supporting women across the country. Likewise, millions of dollars were spent in support of women’s rights, especially in the last decade. They launched protests and campaigns for eliminating violence against women and also resorted to many technical methods.

One will ask that what is the outcome of those millions of dollars and energies which were spent this way by feministic groups and organizations? Have they come with any efficacious results, effective solutions or pragmatic mechanism? It is not me to answer all these questions, however, to your chagrin; I can say only that reports show that the graph of violence against women is on rise. Moreover, it is beyond me why the result is in reverse with the intention.

Anyhow, as the headline of my article is feminism, let me explain its types and the differences amongst them. No doubt, everybody is used to the words of ‘feminism and feminist’, this ideology is based on equality of man and woman and feminists struggle in support of women. There are three main feministic viewpoints – liberal, radical and black feminisms which are explained below.

Liberal feminism seeks gender inequality in social and cultural attitudes. In spite of radical feminists, liberal feminists do not consider the inferiority and obedience of women a part of larger system or structure. They study the bias against women in work-field, educational institutions and media. They support equal opportunities for women through legislation or other democratic methods. Liberal feminists support legislative development such as equal payment or abolishing sex bias. Moreover, they perform their activities through existing systems so as to bring gradual amendments. Therefore, their method is far more moderate than radical feminists who want the collapse of the existing law. Even though, liberal feminists played vital role in the development of women within the last decade, nonetheless the critics believe that they were not able to discover the root cause of gender inequality and the essence of systemic cruelty which is going on in the society against women. Likewise, radical feminists accuse liberal feminists of encouraging women to accept unequal society with its competitive characters.

This belief is the essence of radical feminist that men are responsible for women’s exploitation. Analysis of patriarchy – systemic dominance of men over women – is the main tendency of this type of feminism. They believe that patriarchy is a nationwide phenomenon throughout the cultures and times. Radical feminists consider family as a basic source of atrocity and cruelty in the society. They state that men exploit women by making them work free of charge. Moreover, they believe that men are a setback for women to reach power in the society. Firestone, one of the first writers of radical feminist who used to live in 19th century, states that men have control over the role of women in reproduction and training of children. Furthermore, radical feminists believe that women cannot get rid of sexual cruelties and atrocities by gradual changes and amendment. According to them, patriarchy is a systemic phenomenon; gender equality is possible only by demolishing the system of patriarchy. They believe that those social and cultural norms which reiterate the slender figures and sympathetic attitudes of women, aim to extend their inferiority and obedience. According to this type of feminism, objectifying women through media, models and advertisements change women to sexual objects with the intention of amusing and pleasing men.

Walby, an analyst in patriarchal study who used to live in 19th century, divides patriarchy into two types which are private patriarchy and public patriarchy. Private patriarchy is a dominance which is imposed on woman from patriarch side in a family. Private patriarchy is a strategy based on denying and ostracism, because women are ostracized and prevented from partaking in social life. On the other hand, public patriarchy has general form. Women are involved in public places such as policy and social work, however, stay away from wealth, power and position.

Black feminism, forms due to discontent with the existing feminisms, and concentrates on the challenges lying ahead of black women. Many black feminists and the feminists of developing countries allege that feminisms are not implemented equally between white and black women. The writings of American black feminists reiterate the effect of strong heritage of slavery, prejudice and seclusion and movement of civil law over the gender inequality in black community. Black women were exposed to prejudice based on their race and sex. Stratification was also a factor which played its role negatively about black women. According to black feminists, black women are involved in multiple deprivations which are based on color, sex, and stratification. Hence, when these three factors come together, they intensify one another.