introductionmost visible symbol of what is deemed to be the institutional oppression
of Afghan women.8
To put this matter into its cultural context, in Afghanistan the burqa
is primarily an urban phenomenon and something of a status symbol for
upwardly mobile families, since the poor cannot afford the elaborately
pleated and embroidered garment. Indeed, when the Taliban enforced
strict veiling in public places, the poor would share one burqa between
several women. In many rural areas of Afghanistan, such as the Hazarajat,
the burqa is not worn. Kuchi women and some Turkmens also do not wear
the burqa, while in Herat the Iranian-style chadur, or long scarf, which
covers the hair but leaves the face exposed, is the most common apparel
for women in public spaces.
The Taliban were not the first government to require all adult women
to wear the burqa or enforce strict segregation of the sexes, for the prin-
ciple of parda, or concealment, has been commonplace in Afghanistan
since the early Islamic era. An attempt to outlaw the veil in the mid-1920s
failed and there was an Islamist backlash that led to the king, Nadir Shah,
imposing strict concealment and passing legislation that severely restricted
women’s rights. Even after the restrictions were relaxed in the 1960s and
’70s, burqa-clad women were still a common sight in Kabul and most
other towns. Photographs of young, unveiled, miniskirted women that
appeared in the state-controlled press of this era were representative only
of a tiny minority of educated state employees and students and were more
government propaganda than a true representation of general realities. In
1994 the mujahidin government of President Rabbani also imposed strict
parda in the wake of the fall of the secularizing Communist government
and issued restrictive rules regarding female decorum. However, the muja-
hidin government stopped short of banning women from the workplace,
education or the health services.
Islamic law is often blamed for this restrictive culture but customary law,
known as ‘a d at or rasm wa rawaj,9 is equally important when it comes to
determining gender roles in Afghanistan and often denies women rights that
are accorded them by the shari‘a. Under Islamic law, for example, a married
woman is entitled to own property and retain control over any wealth she
brings to the husband’s family, while her husband is required to give her a
dowry, known as mahr, which is usually a small plot of land. However, in
many rural communities this provision is often honoured in the breach.
In Afghanistan male–female roles are more rigidly defined than in
Western secular societies and the prevailing view, particularly in rural
areas, is that a woman’s place is in the home. In more urbanized areas, if