I’m sure that you’ve already seen this elsewhere, but it’s certainly worth posting again.
Yesterday, 300 women in Afghanistan marched in the streets to protest a new law which affects the Shia minority of the population. It says that a woman cannot leave or work outside of the home without her husband’s permission, that she cannot refuse his requests to “make herself up,” and also that marital rape is a-okay. The women were met with 1,000 male counter-protesters, who hurled verbal abuse at them, threatened violence, and actually enacted violence in the form of throwing stones at the women:
The young women stepped off the bus and moved toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of the street when they were spotted by a mob of men.
“Get out of here, you whores!” the men shouted. “Get out!”
The women scattered as the men moved in.
“We want our rights!” one of the women shouted, turning to face them. “We want equality!”
The women ran to the bus and dived inside as it rumbled away, with the men smashing the taillights and banging on the sides.
“Whores!”
But the march continued anyway. About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.
It was an extraordinary scene. Women are mostly illiterate in this impoverished country, and they do not, generally speaking, enjoy anything near the freedom accorded to men. But there they were, most of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling out slogans heavy with meaning.
With the Afghan police keeping the mob at bay, the women walked two miles to Parliament, where they delivered a petition calling for the law’s repeal.
“Whenever a man wants sex, we cannot refuse,” said Fatima Husseini, 26, one of the marchers. “It means a woman is a kind of property, to be used by the man in any way that he wants.”
Like everyone else, I am astounded at the bravery of these women and their activism.
Afghanistan’s President Karzai seems to be softening his stance and indicating that “the most controversial parts of the law” might be repealed, as the law has not yet been officially published and can therefore be changed. But it seems that the women are demanding a full repeal of the law, period. And it also seems that’s the absolute right stance to take.
President Obama has thus far indicated that he thinks the law is “abhorrent,” but has done nothing to stand with the women who oppose the law or to pressure Karzai to listen to them. You can sign a petition telling him to do just that.
ETA: Commenter Forrester has decided to match the first $1,000 of Feministe donations made to RAWA in solidarity with the women who took place in this march. If you donate online, forward those receipts to cara.kulwicki at gmail dot com so that I can verify with Forrester that they were made!
Similar Posts:
- Some Numbers. by Jill February 26, 2008
- Justice for the Women of Atenco by Cara March 18, 2009
- Columbia/Barnard Take Back the Night March by Cara April 8, 2009
- CIA Uses Viagra as Bribing Tactic in Afghanistan by Cara December 27, 2008
- Join Women on the Bridge by Cara March 5, 2010
Astounding . . . I wish I had a tenth of the bravery these women have.
Does anyone know of a reputable charity or organization that anyone can donate to to support them?
EXCELLENT question, Forrester. If there is one, I will very happily add that information to the post.
Those are some extremely brave women. I hope we are supplying them with arms/training, although I doubt it.
Brave is the first word that came to my mind, Forrester and ouch. How do we let them know that we are with them in spirit if we are laid off and can’t donate?
Has RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) been involved with the march? (I imagine they would be, or at the very least that some of the 300 would be RAWA members, but there’s no mention in the linked article.)
Either way, there are lots of ways to get involved with RAWA–they have a list of some suggestions on their website, along with contact info.
Unfortunately, from what I’ve read elsewhere, there weren’t only male counter-protesters, but female as well.
mk, thanks — that group looks like it’s exactly what I was looking for:
http://www.rawa.org
http://www.rawa.org/donation.htm
I want to say something cool like “I’ll match the first $1000-worth of Feministe-account donations made to RAWA” but I am not precisely sure how make something like that official/viable. If you have any ideas, Cara, email me.
Those women are so brave to go against that screaming mob! Does anyone know if they were part of an organized group like RAWA or just women of the community gathering together on their own?
I’m leaving for the rest of the evening in half an hour so I’m trying to think quick . . . I assume that RAWA sends email receipts for donations? If so, perhaps people can forward them to me so that I can confirm they have been made? I think that email receipts don’t give full credit card info anyway, so that would be a secure way of doing it.
Thoughts? Anyone?
This is amazing, but also very sad. These women know that they aren’t safe, even if they keep their heads down, so they stand up and shout. At the risk of tipping off a shitstorm… why doesn’t the state department funnel guns to these women, instead of the men standing on their heads?
Forrester, I bet I could find $25 if you’d match.
I cried when I saw this on the news. These women are amazing. <3
Those women are amazing. I do not know what I would do in that situation. They are so brave to stand up and fight for what they believe and know to be right. I just pray that these women will have a life that is free for them. In the States, we have a choice and hopefully one day these women will too!
Cara — looks like if you send a check for $50 or more, they send you a receipt, but if you give any amount through credit card, they email you a receipt that has your name but only the first four digits of the credit card # (which only represents the bank, anyway). That’d work.
No cheating, people :).
Cara — typo — I said the first $1000, not first $100.
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ETA: Commenter Forrester has decided to match the first $100 of Feministe donations made to RAWA in solidarity with the women who took place in this march. If you donate online, forward those receipts to cara.kulwicki at gmail dot com so that I can verify with Forrester that they were made!
Awesome. Just added it to the post, and here it is in the comments, too! Make a donation to RAWA, and Forrester will match the first $1,000 of Feministe donations. Send me your email receipts so that I can verify the donations were made!
Holy shit you did! WOW. Um, okay, changing!
I just donated–let’s see how quickly we can hit $1000!
[...] the Women of Afghanistan Y’all have hopefully already heard about the 300 women who marched to protest the new law passed–a law believed to contain articles that rule women [...]
i read about this on twitter and just donated. thanks Forrester for matching and thanks cara for advertising
Amazing women. I am awed by their bravery.
These women are astoundingly brave. I wish I could be that brave.
[...] Comments Cara on Thursday LOST Blogging: Some Like It HothIshtar on 300 Women March for Rights in Afghanistantransgenmom on ReunionAmber Rhea on On Cis Supremacy, Feminism and FeministeBlogaround: The [...]
A fundraising update has been made to the other post. As of this moment, we’re at $535!
to ouch, above, “I hope we are supplying them with arms/training, although I doubt it.”
Who is “we” and what makes you think that you sitting in the US can train Afghan women who have been struggling for their concerns longer than you have been alive?
These women’s bravery is amazing and I commend them! We just comemmorated 50 years since the Tibetan women’s uprising, a non-violent display of protest where 15,000 Tibetan women took to the streets of Lhasa, unarmed, to oppose the Chinese occupation. There’s a great documentary about the protest called A Quiet Revolution that shows on PBS sometimes, you can see a trailer and buy a copy at that site.
After all the teabagging madness of the past week, it’s good to see what a *real* grassroots protest is like. Kudos to these women; I can’t even imagine being that brave.
Now the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, says he did not read the law
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090426.wafghan27/BNStory/International/home?cid=al_gam_mostview