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Tuesday, March 15, 2005

This is Bush's idea of freedom for women in Afghanistan
Posted by Jill | 8:40 AM

Bush likes to crow about how women were freed of the burqa in Afghanistan because of his military endeavor. I think some women would rather wear the burqa than this:


Gurcharan Virdee is no stranger to the hardships facing women around the world.

Virdee works with Medica Mondiale, a German-based international organization supporting women in war and crisis situations.

The group is currently working on a program to provide shelter to women living in the western Afghan province of Herat -- an area where Taliban-era repressions are still very much in place.

There, Virdee met several women who had attempted to kill themselves through self-immolation. The most tragic case, Virdee says, involved a young pregnant woman who survived despite suffering severe burns over 60 percent of her body.

"One of the women that I met, she was about 29. She already had four children, [and] she was seven months pregnant when she burned herself. She was experiencing problems with her husband and family; they wouldn't allow her to go and visit her own family. She set fire to herself. She then gave birth to a baby with no painkillers, nothing. The baby girl was taken by her aunt to look after her, and [the mother] died three weeks after giving birth," Virdee said.

A government delegation that traveled to Herat last week said at least 52 women in the province have killed themselves in recent months through self-immolation.

A Herat regional hospital last year recorded 160 cases of attempted suicide among girls and women between the ages of 12 and 50. But Virdee says the real number is probably much higher.

"The official statistics which the hospitals have are for the women who have actually come to the hospital, who can receive treatment. There are many other cases of women burning themselves in the villages, in the city, in some of the provinces. But these are women we can't give any estimates on, partly because they never reach the hospital or because they die in their villages or city. These are the cases that never come to the attention of any public authorities," Virdee said.

Afghan officials say poverty, forced marriages, and lack of access to education are the main reasons for suicide among women in Herat. Domestic violence is also widespread.

"A lot of women are saying that their husbands don't allow them to go and visit their families. There are severe restrictions on their movement, and also there is violence towards them -- both physical and psychological -- and intimidation and isolation," Virdee said.


This differs from the fundie Christian model of "women submitting to their husbands" only as a question of degree. The underlying religiocultural pathology is identical.

American women, take note.
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