If the Taliban takes power, Afghan
women fear their freedoms may vanish
By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.13.14
Word Count 912
Kahkashan Koofi (left) looks at pictures on the phone of her sister Oranous Koofi as they take a taxi with their mother
Shahgol Shah (right) to the market in downtown Kabul, Dec. 7, 2013. Photo: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT
KABUL, Afghanistan — Shahgol Shah was just 11 when she was married by her family to a
man she didn't choose. She never went to school and spent her life raising seven children.
Today, Shahgol Shah, who is 50, still obeys mahram. It is the Afghan custom that forbids
women to leave home without a male relative. In public, she wears a burka, the long cloak
covering her entire body worn by some Muslims for modesty. Her face is hidden behind a
shawl. “That’s our tradition,” Shah says.
Her 26-year-old daughter, Ghazalan Koofi, lives a life her mother could never have
imagined. She leaves home unescorted every day, working at a government job and
attending university classes at night. She speaks fluent English and has never worn a
burka. She dresses stylishly but modestly, her wavy black hair peeking out from under a
head scarf.
Koofi demands the respect of her male coworkers. She insisted on a seat at a recent
gathering, where women usually have no place. She treasures her “love marriage” with the
husband she chose for herself. Most Afghan marriages are arranged by the families of the
bride and groom, who often meet for the first time at their wedding.
"A Very Brave Woman"
Koofi's husband, Shoaib Azizi, calls his wife “a very brave woman.” He helps with
housework and caring for their infant son, something that some male friends consider
weak and shameful.
Koofi became an adult after the United States invaded Afghanistan (https://
www.newsela.com/?tag=Afghanistan), overthrowing the Taliban government in 2001. The
U.S. went to war against the Taliban, which gave shelter to Osama Bin Laden, who was
responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States. The Taliban did
not allow women to attend school, forced them to wear the burka in public and forbade
them from going outside their homes without a male relative.
But U.S. combat troops are leaving Afghanistan next year. And Koofi and other Afghan
women worry that the Taliban will take over and freedoms introduced since the fall of the
Taliban will disappear.
“We are entering a very dangerous period for women,” says Koofi. “I’m very worried that
we will return to those terrible days when the only place for a woman was in the home,
doing housework and serving the men.”
Across Kabul, Shukriya Matin also belongs to the generation of women who have become
adults in a world of new freedoms. They fear for their future without them.
Matin was in grade school when her family fled the Taliban in 1996 after she was beaten
for not properly covering her hair in public. For six long years, she was a low-paid child
carpet weaver in neighboring Pakistan.
She returned to Kabul and earned a high school degree. Now, at 28, she directs a private
hospital program.
The Story Of Afghanistan
Inside her neat, sparsely furnished home, Matin describes her sense of dread about the
future.
“Only God knows what will happen to women after 2014,” she says in lightly accented
English as her 3-year-old daughter plays on the floor.
The story of Afghanistan is the story of Matin’s family.
Her mother, Zahra Matin, 52, was engaged at 9 and married at 13, and never learned to
read. She now plans to attend literacy classes and dreams of her granddaughter attending
college.
But Zahra Matin worries the Taliban, still strong in Afghanistan, will come back and quash
their dreams.
The gains Afghan women have made since 2001 are under threat. The country's human
rights commissioner wants to cancel a law banning violence against women, which is
ignored and poorly enforced. The commissioner was appointed by President Hamid
Karzai. A recent United Nations report described “fears and anxiety” among Afghan
women.
“Signs are everywhere that a rollback of women’s rights has begun,” warned Heather Barr.
She is a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch. The Afghanistan Independent Human
Rights Commission reported in January that violent crimes against women reached record
levels last year, rising 24 percent over 2012.
Taliban's Death Threats
Afghanistan is still a deeply traditional Islamic country. Some village girls as young as 9 or
10 are forced by their families to marry older men. Girls who flee arranged marriages are
sometimes beaten and even killed by their families.
There are clear gains. Women now have the right to vote and some serve in parliament, the
army and the national police force. There are 150 female judges.
Under the Taliban, the only education for girls was in illegal home schools. Today, 3 million
girls attend school, but that’s still only 40 percent of all school-age girls.
Taliban extremists throw acid in the faces of schoolgirls and burn down girls’ schools. In
the last six months, four Afghan policewomen have been killed, and female leaders in the
government are routinely threatened or killed.
Last year, the head of women’s affairs in eastern Afghanistan was killed by a bomb placed
in her car. A few months later, her replacement was shot to death.
“The situation for women is very fragile,” says Fawzia Koofi. She is Ghazalan Koofi's aunt
and an outspoken member of parliament who taught at an underground home school for
girls during the Taliban's rule. She has been threatened with death by the Taliban, yet
intends to run for president in 2018.
She says, “Our gains could easily be reversed, and we’d have to start from scratch for the
simple right to work outside the home or go to school.”
Quiz
1
2
According to the article, women had to face all of the following before the Taliban government
was overthrown in 2001 EXCEPT:
(A)
They were not allowed to go out of the houses unescorted.
(B)
They were married off at an early age without their consent.
(C)
They could attend university classes only at night.
(D)
It was mandatory for them to wear a burka in public.
The educated and liberated Afghan women are living in constant fear because of the following
reasons EXCEPT:
(A)
There have been signs of a rollback of women's rights everywhere.
(B)
Girls who flee arranged marriages are sometimes beaten and even killed by
their families.
(C)
The country's human rights commissioner wants to cancel a law banning
violence against women, which is ignored and poorly enforced.
(D)
There are worries that the U.S. military will invade Afghanistan again.
3
Select the paragraph from "Taliban's Death Threats" that contains an antonym for the word
"robust."
4
Read the sentence from the article.
But Zahra Matin worries the Taliban, still strong in Afghanistan, will
come back and quash their dreams.
What is a synonym for the word "quash" as used in the sentence above?
(A)
crush
(B)
enforce
(C)
repeal
(D)
validate
Answer Key
1
2
3
According to the article, women had to face all of the following before the Taliban government
was overthrown in 2001 EXCEPT:
(A)
They were not allowed to go out of the houses unescorted.
(B)
They were married off at an early age without their consent.
(C)
They could attend university classes only at night.
(D)
It was mandatory for them to wear a burka in public.
The educated and liberated Afghan women are living in constant fear because of the following
reasons EXCEPT:
(A)
There have been signs of a rollback of women's rights everywhere.
(B)
Girls who flee arranged marriages are sometimes beaten and even killed by
their families.
(C)
The country's human rights commissioner wants to cancel a law banning
violence against women, which is ignored and poorly enforced.
(D)
There are worries that the U.S. military will invade Afghanistan again.
Select the paragraph from "Taliban's Death Threats" that contains an antonym for the word
"robust."
Paragraph 23:
“The situation for women is very fragile,” says Fawzia Koofi. She is Ghazalan
Koofi's aunt and an outspoken member of parliament who taught at an
underground home school for girls during the Taliban's rule. She has been
threatened with death by the Taliban, yet intends to run for president in 2018.
4
Read the sentence from the article.
But Zahra Matin worries the Taliban, still strong in Afghanistan, will
come back and quash their dreams.
What is a synonym for the word "quash" as used in the sentence above?
(A)
crush
(B)
enforce
(C)
repeal
(D)
validate