Student Tribune
Women's Rights Denied Under the Taliban Lecture Today at Noon
Please join us today!
WEDNESDAY, March 30 at 12 noon - 1 pm in the Brighton Room 3 -
217
Women’s Rights Denied Under the Taliban
Sharif Hozoori, PhD
Sharif Hozoori comes to Cornell as an Institute of International
Education Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) Fellow, having most recently been Vice
Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of Afghanistan. He previously
held positions teaching International Relations at Gawharshad University and
Rana University, both in Kabul. He received his PhD in Diplomacy and
Disarmament from Jawaharlal Nehru University, with a dissertation
entitled, The Role of Political Elites on Foreign Policy Transformation: A
Case Study of Afghanistan, 1996-2014, and earned his MA in International
Relations from South Asian University, New Delhi. His research is on regional
foreign policy and political instability in Afghanistan.
Women comprise of approximately half of the population of each society yet
struggle to attain equal rights on par with men in many societies. History is
full of examples of atrocities and violence against women but the violation
against women rights may be seen more in countries that face conflict and
instability. Afghanistan, with its troubled history in the last four decades,
has experienced a variety of regime changes followed by revolution, civil war,
and instability. Such a volatile history has had great impact on the day-to-day
life of the citizens of the country. In many instances, they have been
suppressed, imprisoned, tortured, and killed by those who took the law in their
hands. In such circumstances the sorrows and sufferings of women in particular
have mounted but are yet to be fully discovered and discussed due to secrecy
and local customs.
From 2001 onwards, women in Afghanistan began to see themselves in the
public life and their social, political, judiciary and economic rights
guaranteed by the new constitution. With it, came new opportunity that allowed
women to dream for their future. Women were finally allowed to attend the
school, go to university, choose their desired field of study, and occupy any
post in the job market. For these reasons, the women of Afghanistan made
enormous strides in last two decades. They became parliamentarians, ministers,
governors, judges, professors, pilots, inspectors and administrators. However,
on 15 August 2021 when the Taliban took over Kabul, women suddenly vanished
from public life.
In this talk we shall discuss the current situation of women in Afghanistan
under current regime. We will examine the reasons behind Taliban’s
regressive policy against women to help us understand and perhaps even predict
the future of women under the Taliban administration.
Lee, Christina
Global Education & International Services
03/30/2022