''It's not Easy Being an Afghan Woman'': Humaira Ameer Rasuli, Head of Medica Af ghanistan By Sandra Petersmann She

may laugh a lot, but Humaira Ameer Rasuli lives dangerously. The Afghan huma n rights activist speaks out in a country where women are still excluded from th e development process. Humaira Ameer Rasuli doesn't mince her words. "Women play no part in Afghan soci ety. Their rights as citizens of this country are neither acknowledged nor respe cted." This fundamental criticism is directed against both the Afghan government and the international community. "At the moment all they are concerned with is trying to keep the peace. But what is peace worth if half the population has no share in it?" Ameer Rasuli is the director of 'Medica Afghanistan', an aid organization that h as been independent since December 2010. Like its German parent organization 'me dica mondiale', it acts on behalf of women who have been the victims of violence . Rasuli laments "the persistent silence" that still surrounds Afghanistan's fem ale population almost a decade after the fall of the radical Islamic Taliban reg ime. Ameer Rasuli believes the root cause of this is the brutalization of the populat ion through three decades of war. She says that the ongoing violence has reinfor ced the traditional, patriarchal tribal structures and made them even more diffi cult for women to break out of. "But it is also because of mistaken interpretati on of the Sharia. It was always men who interpreted Islamic law, to their own ad vantage." Lagging behind "What is peace worth if half the population has no share in it?" - Humaira Ameer Rasuli Rasuli, the mother of a young son, knows that in making statements like these sh e also makes powerful enemies in the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, but it's s omething she is prepared to do. "After almost ten years of democracy, there are in reality only small democratic refuges. Women do not feel any real freedom. We 're not allowed say what we think." She tries to do so nonetheless, as often as she can. Ameer Rasuli is one of very few privileged women in Afghanistan. She studied for a degree in business management, followed by a couple of terms studying medicin e. "It's not easy being an Afghan woman," she says, smiling. She recalls an interna tional workshop she took part in Germany. Other participants included women's ri ghts activists from Bosnia, Liberia, Kosovo, and the Democratic Republic of Cong o. "In these countries the violence against women is certainly comparable, but a t least these countries do already have laws to protect them, and do sometimes a pply them. It made me so depressed, because we're still so far behind in our dev elopment." Article 23 of the new Afghan Constitution of 2004 declares that men and women ha ve "the same rights and duties before the law", and that all forms of discrimina tion are forbidden. But Ameer Rasuli stresses that, for Afghan women, this is no t their daily reality. "If the political will to apply the laws is not there, th ey mean nothing at all." The reality is that confident women in Afghanistan live in fear for their lives. Zakia Zaki, a brave radio journalist, was shot dead in 2007. One year later the courageous policewoman Malalai Kakar was assassinated.

Constitution and constitutional reality The young women's rights activist acknowledges that, particularly in the big urb an centres such as Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat, there has been visible progr ess. Women are seen on the street again; girls are going to school; some are als o attending colleges of further education and universities. There are currently four more female ministers sitting in the lower house of the Afghan parliament t han prescribed by the quota. Devastating statistics: According to UN data, at least 1,600 mothers die for eve ry 100,000 births, and 280 children in every thousand die before the age of five But if you look at the country as a whole, for the vast majority almost nothing has changed as a result of the Western intervention in the autumn of 2001. The m ortality rate for mothers and children is still one of the highest in the world. The statistics are devastating. According to UN data, at least 1,600 mothers die for every 100,000 births. 280 children in every thousand die before the age of five. Around 80% of all marriages are forced marriages. Around half of all brides are under 16. On average, every Afghan woman gives birth to six children. For almost 90% of Afghan women domestic violence is part of daily life, and in the majorit y of rape cases it is the woman who is deemed to have been at fault. An un-Islamic organization Only about 12% of all women over the age of 15 can read and write. The 31-year-o ld Ameer Rasuli can list endless cases of abused women who didn't know that usin g violence against them was forbidden. She tells of members of the Afghan parlia ment who pressurize her to abandon her work, saying that Islam envisages justice , not equal rights. "I don't know what justice means to these members of parliament. In their eyes w e are an un-Islamic organization, because as far as they are concerned violence against women doesn't exist." Rasuli appeals to the international community not to abandon Afghanistan after t he planned withdrawal of Western combat troops. "Our great hope is that if forei gn powers continue to intervene, the government will have to enforce internation ally applicable rights. We need the international community to care about and he lp us." Membership without influence: The National Peace Council includes nine women, bu t they have "no clear role", Rasuli admonishes Nonetheless, the director of Medica Afghanistan knows that there will not be a m ilitary solution for the problems of the Hindu Kush. She too thinks that the onl y way to achieve a solution is through difficult negotiations. She believes that negotiating with representatives of the Taliban movement is the right thing to do, but she also says that "the rights of women should not be sacrificed for pea ce". However, Ameer Rasuli has little hope for the work of the High Peace Council und er the leadership of ex-president Rabbani, who is to conduct talks with the Tali ban movement on behalf of the Afghan government. Alongside powerful regional lea ders, religious scholars and tribal elders, the 70-strong council also includes nine women, but they have "no clear role", and are again shrouded in silence. Rasuli criticizes the fact that the West is financing the work of the Peace Coun cil without first developing a joint strategy and establishing common aims. "Thi s has been the fundamental problem of Afghan development for almost ten years,"

she says: the lack of a joint strategy and the lack of clear objectives. Nonethe less, she believes that without the support of the international community the w omen of Afghanistan will not benefit from any development at all. Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins Editors: Diana Hodali/Deutsche Welle, Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de Source: Qantara.de URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamWomenAndFeminism_1.aspx?ArticleI D=4974