Afghan Women Continue to Face Repression 2 1/2 Years After the Overthrow of the Fundamentalist Taliban Regime

Interview with Sima Wali, founder of Refugee Women in Development, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Under the Islamic Fundamentalist Taliban government in Afghanistan, the condition of women deteriorated almost to the state of non-personhood. Under the Taliban, women were not allowed to work outside their homes, girls were not permitted to attend school and women accused of associating with males other than their husbands or relatives faced severe punishment, including execution. Since the U.S. overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001, both Afghans and international aid workers have worked to improve the status of women in that country, but the situation is still desperate in many cases. Taliban guerrilla fighters now attacking the U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai appear to be growing in strength.

Sima Wali, an Afghan woman, fled her country after the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979. In 1981, she founded Refugee Women in Development to support uprooted women from many countries to participate in their own economic and social development. Wali returned to Afghanistan for the first time in October 2002, where she ran a skills-training workshop for women-led Afghan non-governmental organizations.

Between the Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Wali about what she views to be the most serious challenges facing Afghan women and her hope for women's participation in the nation's new government.

Contact Refugee Women in Development by calling (703) 931-6442 or visit their website at www.refwid.org

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