[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 17, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1913-E1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 17, 2001

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the women 
in Afghanistan. Today in Afghanistan, a woman's basic right to vote, to 
pursue an education, and to join the job force, is threatened. The 
Taliban's insistence on secluding women from public life is a political 
maneuver disguised as ``Islamic'' law. Before seizing power, the 
Taliban manipulated and used the rights of women as tools to gain 
control of the country. To secure financial and political support, the 
Taliban emulated authoritarian methods typical of many Middle Eastern 
countries. The Taliban's stand on the seclusion of women is not derived 
from Islam, but, rather, from a cultural bias found in suppressive 
movements throughout the region.
  Three and a half million Afghan refugees are fighting to survive in 
bordering countries, and the number has been increasing every day since 
the U.S. vowed retaliation for the September 11 attacks. Afghan women 
who fled the ruling Taliban's oppressive regime comprise more than 70 
percent of those in refugee camps; many are already starving.
  Before 1996, women were 70 percent of the school teachers, 40 percent 
of the doctors, 50 percent of government workers and 50 percent of the 
college students in Afghanistan. They were scientists, professors, 
members of parliament and university professors. Since then, the women 
and girls of Afghanistan have suffered horribly under the Taliban's 
rule, forbidden to work or attend school, prohibited from going outside 
without a close male relative and cut off from health care. Violations 
of these and other strict rules have resulted in beatings, torture and 
public executions.
  The women and girls who escape these sub-human conditions must not be 
allowed to starve in refugee camps. Expansion of the U.S. humanitarian 
aid package and its proper distribution will help ensure that this will 
not happen.
  Today, the treatment of women in Afghanistan is receiving much 
international attention. The Taliban's discriminatory gender policies 
have been heavily criticized by outside governments, intergovernmental 
organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Whilst the Taliban's 
response has been to vigorously defend their position, the opposition 
alliance fighting the Taliban in the northeast have sought to portray 
themselves as defenders of women's rights, although whether this is 
anything more than an opportunistic attempt to garner international 
support remains to be seen. They themselves have committed human rights 
abuses.
  This pattern of using the status of women to accrue political 
advantage must be broken.
  If the aims of peace and development are ever to be realized in 
Afghanistan, then women's fundamental human rights must be respected. 
It is now recognized the world over that progress, social justice, the 
eradication of poverty, sustained economic growth, and social 
development all critically depend on the full participation of women on 
the basis of equality in all spheres of society. As agreed by the 
governments participating in the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in 
Beijing in 1995, local, national, regional and global peace is 
attainable and is inextricably linked to the advancement of women. In 
the Platform for Action, world governments pledged to take all 
necessary measures to prevent and eliminate violence and discrimination 
against women, which are major obstacles to the advancement and 
empowerment of women.
  I rise today to reiterate my support for the women of Afghanistan. It 
is obligatory that the unalienable rights of these women be restored; 
an increase in humanitarian aid must

[[Page E1914]]

be implemented for Afghan women and children; and Afghan women should 
play a leadership role in rebuilding the country.

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