Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements

Living with Violence: A National Report on Domestic Abuse in Afghanistan
Global Rights, March 2008
In Afghanistan, an epidemic of daunting proportions is taking place. Violence against women in the home is so prevalent and so pervasive that practically every Afghan woman will experience it in her lifetime. Domestic violence has become a regular feature of almost all households, and shapes every aspect of women’s and girls’ lives: their health, their livelihoods, their access to social and cultural resources, and their educational opportunities. This report presents the findings of surveys on domestic violence conducted with women in 4,700 households in 16 provinces1 located across Afghanistan in 2006.

Afghanistan: Women human rights defenders continue to struggle for women’s rights
Amnesty International Public Statement, March 7, 2008

Evaluation report on General Situation of Women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, January 2008
This report has been prepared on the basis of a study on general status of Afghan women made by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Women, Peace and Security in Afghanistan - Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 Six Years On: Post-Bonn Gains And Gap
Medica Mondiale, October 2007
This report outlines what steps have been taken to protect women from a war which continues to rage in many parts of Afghanistan, and considers whether the principles of Resolution 1325 been realized to any degree for Afghan women.

Dying to Be Heard: Self-Immolation of Women in Afghanistan - Findings of a Research Project
Medica Mondiale 2006-2007
In 2006, Medica Mondiale, a German NGO with an office in Afghanistan dedicated to supporting women and girls afflicted by violence in conflict areas, was asked to conduct research, to identify documented numbers of self-immolation cases, and to determine via case study analysis why self-immolation occurs. This is the report of their results.

Evaluation report on General Situation of Women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, April 2006
This report has been prepared on the basis of a study on general status of Afghan women made by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

Afghanistan: Campaigning against Fear - Women’s Participation in Afghanistan’s 2005 Elections
Human Rights Watch Report, August 17, 2005
The Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections on September 18, 2005 will be a critical test of women’s freedom to participate in Afghanistan’s political life four years after the ouster of the Taliban—not only as voters, but also as candidates and elected representatives in every province. A credible election with meaningful participation by women candidates will be a success for Afghanistan and the international community, strengthening the foundation for more women to become active in public life, not only as elected representatives, but in civil society, government, the media, and business. A campaign period and election day riddled with threats, intimidation, and social restrictions will highlight a gap between rhetoric and reality on women’s rights and feed into the disappointment many Afghan women have felt at the slow rate of progress since the fall of the Taliban. While many women have courageously entered the public sphere despite social taboos and security threats, the intimidation and violence are increasing as elections near.

Afghanistan: Women still under attack-a systematic failure to protect
Amnesty International, Stop Violence against Women campaign, 30 May 2005
Afghanistan is in the process of reconstruction after many years of conflict, but hundreds of thousands of women and girls continue to suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands, fathers, brothers, armed individuals, parallel legal systems, and institutions of the state itself such as the police and the justice system. There are reported increases in forced marriages; some women in difficult situations have even killed themselves to escape such a heinous situation whilst others burn themselves to death to draw attention to their plight...The challenge to repair almost three decades of breakdown of law and order is visible through ongoing insecurity throughout Afghanistan and particularly manifested in widespread violence against women. The unstable environment reinforces inequality and discrimination whilst the rule of law remains elusive. In comparison, traditional and customary practices and codes have shown a remarkable resilience in maintaining their role as conduits of social order, raising disturbing questions as to the male dominated society’s understanding of violence perpetrated against women.

From Rhetoric to Reality: Afghan Women on the Agenda for Peace
Masuda Sultan, Women Waging Peace, Policy Commission, February 2005
This report provides an overview of women’s initiatives and activities in Afghanistan and examines the effectiveness of the international community’s decision to emphasize women’s rights and participation in advancing the status and role of women in Afghanistan. It makes the case that because women can foster stability and be a force for moderation, women’s capacity must be further strengthened and their rights must not be bargained away.

Between Hope and Fear: Intimidation and Attacks against Women in Public Life in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, Briefing Paper, October 2004
Women’s rights activists and journalists who have been outspoken on women’s rights issues, such as human trafficking or violence against women, have reported death threats, visits to their homes by gunmen, and dismissals from their jobs or other obstructions of their work. Often, expecting retaliation from armed political factions or religious conservatives, women’s rights activists and women journalists refrain from directly criticizing warlords or discussing topics that could be perceived as challenging women’s rights under Islamic law, such as divorce. The resulting atmosphere of fear and insecurity endangers women’s full participation in the presidential elections and parliamentary and local elections scheduled for 2005.

Special Report: Women and Elections in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, 28 August 2004

Advancing UNHCR’s Five Commitments to Refugee Women and the UN Millennium Development Goals
Afghan Women’s Network (AWN), Afghan Women’s Resource Center (AWRC) and Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Summary of Workshop, Peshawar, Pakistan, 15 June 2004

At the Cross-Roads of Conflict and Democracy: Women and Afghanistan's Constitutional Loya Jirga
Lauryn Oates, Associate, Women's Rights in Afghanistan Project and Isabelle Solon Helal, Programme Officer, Women’s Rights, Rights & Democracy, May 2004
This report is based on Rights & Democracy’s observation at the Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) in Kabul during December 2003 and January 2004, more than 20 in-depth interviews with delegates, observers and civil society representatives, careful analysis of the political atmosphere throughout the country in the days leading up to and following the CLJ, as well as documentation from other international observer missions, including Amnesty International, the International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations. Further, a critical analysis has been made of the final Constitution text in an effort to determine the potential hindrances to women’s rights that may result, as well as the ways in which women can use the text to their advantage.

Still in Need: Reproductive Health Care for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, October 2003
The Women's Commission conducted a reproductive health (RH) assessment focused on the implementation of priority RH activities among Afghan refugees in the Northwest Frontier, Baluchistan and Punjab provinces of Pakistan from August 2002 through June 2003. The assessment of these priority RH activities, also known as Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), revealed that while isolated efforts have been made to improve the quantity and quality of reproductive health care for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, many programs are limited to traditional maternal and child health care services, and the quality of RH care is a significant concern.

Afghanistan: "Noone listens to us and noone treats us as human beings": Justice Denied to Women
Amnesty International, October 2003
Two years after the ending of the Taleban regime, the international community and the Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA), led by President Hamid Karzai, have proved unable to protect women. Amnesty International is gravely concerned by the extent of violence faced by women and girls in Afghanistan. The risk of rape and sexual violence by members of armed factions and former combatants is still high. Forced marriage, particularly of girl children, and violence against women in the family are widespread in many areas of the country. These crimes of violence continue with the active support or passive complicity of state agents, armed groups, families and communities. This continuing violence against women in Afghanistan causes untold suffering and denies women their fundamental human rights...The UN Security Council has expressed its commitment to giving gender equality a central place in post-conflict reconstruction and peace operations through the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on "Women Peace and Security". Resolution 1325 and the Namibia Plan of Action on "Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Operations" (Namibia Plan of Action) outline measures to protect the rights of women that should be integrated in such operations.(3) The particular need for law enforcement activities and judicial and legal reform to ensure protection of women's rights is detailed in the UN study on implementation of Resolution 1325.(4) The international community's involvement in Afghanistan is an important test case for seeing whether the will and resources to ensure such commitments are in fact implemented.

Killing You is a Very Easy Thing For Us: Human Rights Abuses in Southeast Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, July 2003
Afghanistan’s window of opportunity is closing fast. A new constitution and national elections are on the horizon, and warlords and abusive military commanders are becoming more and more entrenched. The international community and the Afghan Transitional Administration must act soon to improve the human rights situation. After the elections, scheduled for June 2004, it may be too late. The three main types of abuse documented in this report are violent criminal offenses—armed robbery, extortion, and kidnappings—committed by army troops, police, and intelligence agents; governmental attacks on media and political actors; and violations of the human rights of women and girls. Many of these violations are preventable, but solutions will require the concerted attention and action of international and Afghan authorities alike, which to date has not been sufficiently forthcoming.

Afghan Women's Leadership Program: Leadership Training for the Women of Afghanistan Report
V-Day and Afghani Women, Seminar held 8-10 March 2003, Kabul, Afghanistan, Report released 1 May, 2003

Women's Human Rights in Post-Conflict Afghanistan
Ariane Brunet, Rights & Democracy, February 2003

We Want to Live as Humans: Repression of Women and Girls in Western Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, September 2002
An area of special concern for women’s rights is the province of Herat in the west of Afghanistan, which has a liberal literary and cultural tradition and a history of educating girls. But under the rule of the local governor, Ismail Khan, women’s and girls’ freedom of expression, association, movement, and rights to equality, work, education, and bodily integrity steadily deteriorated throughout 2002. While conditions are undoubtedly better than under the Taliban—girls and women have better access to education and are not beaten by authorities in the streets—many Taliban-era restrictions remain in place. As this report demonstrates, virtually every aspect of women and girls’ lives is still policed in Herat.

Status of Women in Afghanistan
Jamila, October 2002

Women’s Rights in Afghanistan: Report of Rights & Democracy's Mission to Afghanistan
Mission: September 2002
Ariane Brunet and Isabelle Solon Helal, 6 December 2002

Fundamentalism is the Enemy of All Civilized Humanity: Statement on the Anniversary of the September 11 Tragedy
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanisatn (RAWA), 11 September 2002

A Stone in the Water: Report of the Roundtables with Afghan-Canadian Women on the Question of the Application UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Afghanistan
Organized by the The Honourable Mobina S.B. Jaffer of the Advocacy Subcommittee of the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security and YWCA of Canada, July 2002

Outcome of the Afghan Women’s National Consultation
Kabul, Afghanistan, 8 March 2002
After 23 years, we Afghan women from 8 provinces and Kabul city gathered for a historic meeting to discuss our role and contribution in the rebuilding of our homeland.  The objectives of the three-day meeting, which concluded yesterday, was to develop a common platform of action to restore our rights and to effectively contribute to the reconstruction process.  This consultation meeting, was organized by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UNIFEM in collaboration with UN Habitat, ILO, UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA

Interview with Zeiba Sorish Shamley of Women Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan
FIRE's WEBCAST, International Women's Day, 8 March 2002

The Brussels Proclamation
Afghan Women's Summit for Democracy, 4-5 December 2001

Women's Voices from Afghanistan
Afghani women and International Alert, December 2001

Rights, Reconstruction and Enduring Peace: Afghan Women and Children After the Taliban
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, 14 December 2001
As the conflict in Afghanistan enters a new phase, there are obstacles as well as opportunities for Afghan women and children. The international community must, therefore, act now to ensure that the rights of women and children are enshrined in law and respected by all actors in Afghanistan.

Letter regarding recommendations from the Afghan Women Leaders Summit, Brussels 2001
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security to Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations and Bonn Delegates

Afghanistan : Humanity Denied: Systematic Violations of Women's Rights in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch, October 2001
Women in Afghanistan have suffered a catastrophic assault on their human rights during more than twenty years of war and under the repressive rule of the Taliban. Now, as women face further peril with the intensification of conflict following the September 11 attacks on the United States, the international community must make a firm commitment to uphold women’s human rights in any post-conflict settlement. The impunity that has characterized Afghanistan’s civil war must not also come to characterize Afghanistan’s post-conflict reconstruction and development.

Testimony Before the Subcommittee of the US House on International Operations and Human Rights on the Hearing
Tahmeena Faryal, RAWA, 31 October 2001
RAWA, on behalf of more than half of the population of Afghanistan, also must insist that any Loya Jirga or interim-government development process is not legitimate unless it includes and heeds women's voices from beginning to end in substantial and meaningful ways. We ask the unequivocal support of the US and other democracy- and justice-loving countries for this and our other standpoints.

Women’s Health and Human Rights in Afghanistan: A Population-Based Assessment
Physicians for Human Rights, August 2001
This report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) was drafted in August 2001, before the attacks against the United States occurred on September 11.  It contains a groundbreaking survey of over 1,000 Afghan women and men about their attitudes and experiences regarding the health and human rights of Afghan women.  It reveals that an overwhelming majority of Afghan women and men do not support Taliban policies, that they experience enormous physical and mental suffering, and also strongly support basic human rights and freedoms. The report contains recommendations for the United States and international community, countries that Border Afghanistan, Afghan officials regarding women’s human rights and health and humanitarian assistance providers.

Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in Men's Power Struggles
Amnesty International, November 1999
The disastrous consequences of two decades of civil war have weighed heavily on the women of Afghanistan. While the "battles of death are played out by men, women have responsibility for the battles of life".[1]. Through years of fighting, destruction and displacement, Afghan women have struggled to support and sustain their families. Injury, death and the loss of family breadwinners have forced women into assuming a greater role in providing for their dependents; a role which has become increasingly more difficult as war has impoverished the country and adversely affected socio-economic development in all areas, even those far removed from frontline fighting.

Voice of the Voiceless and more
All publications of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)

UN Documents

Faces: Women as Partners in Peace and Security: Women Prepare for First Elections in Afghanistan
UN Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) and UN Department of Public Information, October 2004

CEDAW Chairperson Applauds New Afghan Constitution
Ms. Ayse Feride Acar, UN Headquarters, New York, USA, 8 January 2004

Statement of Solidarity with Afghan Women
Decision of the Twenty-sixth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 26/I, A/57/38 (Part I), paras.417-421, 7 May 2002
Déclaration de solidarité avec les Afghanes

Government Statements and Reports

Women in Afghanistan: Summary of Exchange of Views
European Parliament, Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities, 11 September 2003

International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan: Germany's Contribution to the Reconstruction and Development of Afghanistan
German government, Tokyo, January 2002
Today, harnessing the enormous potential of Afghan women in the process of reconstruction and development is not only necessary, but a historic opportunity. Women, who were never involved in the fighting in Afghanistan, are particulalrly well-placed to act as the driving force behind the peace process.

Books, Journals and Articles

Women and Nation-Building
Cheryl Benard, Seth G. Jones, Olga Oliker, Cathryn Quantic Thurston, Brooke K. Stearns, Kristen Cordell
RAND, 2008
This study examines gender-specific impacts of conflict and post-conflict and the ways in which events in these contexts may affect women differently than they affect men. It analyzes the roles of women in the nation-building process and considers outcomes that might occur if current practices were modified. The recent nation-building activities in Afghanistan are used as a case study.
For free, downloadable full PDF version of this book, please click HERE

Peacebuilding in Afghanistan: How to Reach the Women
Conference Report, Kaja Borchgrevink, Helga Hernes & Ingeborg Haavardsson
International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), February, 2008

Gender Awareness in Research on Small Arms and Light Weapons: A Preliminary Report: Afghanistan
Emily Schroeder, Vanessa Farr and Albrecht Schnabel. swisspeace. Working Paper Series. Bern, January 2005

Afghan Women's Rights Activist and Loya Jirga Member Malalai Joya Discusses Continuing Violence and Upcoming Elections in Afghanistan
Democracy Now! Radio and Malalai Joya, Radio interview, New York, 13 September 2004
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! speaks with Afghan women's rights activist Malalai Joya, an elected representative to the December 2003 Loya Jirga convention in Kabul to create Afghanistan's new constitution. She received numerous death threats for speaking out against fundamentalist leaders- including from Ismail Khan- the governor of Herat who was recently fired by President Karzai, sparking demonstrations and violence.

Afghanistan Unveiled
Brigitte Brault and AINA Afghan Media and Culture Center women's filming group, Documentary, Kabul, Afghanistan, 2004
From July 2002 to August 2003, 14 young women, several still in their teens, trained as camera operators and video journalists at the AINA Afghan Media and Culture Center in Kabul. The first female journalists to be trained in Afghanistan for more than a decade and the first ever to be trained in digital media, most of the trainees had never traveled outside Kabul and had not been able to study or pursue careers while the Taliban controlled their country. Created as the culmination of this unique training program, Afghanistan Unveiled contrasts the harsh lives of the rural women of Afghanistan with those of the film’s young camerawomen, who are experiencing newfound freedom and opportunity while attempting to use their work to change the condition of women in their country.

With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
Anne E. Brodsky. Routledge: London, 2003
The members of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) have risked life and limb daily to help their tortured sisters in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1977. With All Our Strength is the inside story of this women-led underground organization and their fight for the rights of Afghan women. Anne Brodsky, the first writer given in-depth access to visit and interview their members and operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, shines light on the gruesome, often tragic, lives of Afghan women under some of the most brutal sexist oppression in the world. Since the toppling of the Taliban, RAWA continues its important work, helping women survive not only the aftermath of years of abuse, but broken families, poverty, and the many discriminations that still exist.

Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future
Sunita Mehta (Ed.), 2002
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Afghan Women Debate Their Future: A Place at the Table
Sharon Lerner. The Village Voice Newspaper. December 2001
While the overwhelmingly male Afghan tribal delegations were arguing in Bonn over their share of power in a post-Taliban government, Afghan women in New York were envisioning their own future—and bemoaning their minimal access to that planning meeting in Germany. With so many Afghan men killed in fighting, women now make up 54 percent of the population, though only three women are among the 38 or so delegates in Bonn.

War's Offensive on Women: The Humanitarian Challenge in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan
Julie A. Mertus, 2000
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