AfghanistanGender and women’s issues have featured promi-
nently in the political evolution of modern Afghan-
istan; however, traditional elements have consistently
resisted efforts to change Afghan society. King
Amàn Allàh (r. 1919–29) attempted to transform
Afghanistan into a modern state. His moderniza-
tion campaign produced Afghanistan’s first consti-
tution (1924), the secularization of education, and
advocated the emancipation of women.
Girls’ schools were established in Kabul. Women
were encouraged to unveil. Legislation in 1923
gave women the right to marry the man of their
choice. Prominent female members of the royal
family established the Anjuman-i £imàyat-i Niswàn
(Women’s protective society). Girls were sent
abroad for secondary education and coeducation at
the primary school level was proposed. Conserva-
tive tribal elements decried the emancipation of
women as an invasion of privacy, a violation of
modesty, and an attack against the chastity of the
family.
Rebellion against Amàn Allàh’s reforms forced
his abdication and exile. Nàdir Shàh (r. 1930–3)
became king and in deference to popular protests,
he suspended Amàn Allàh’s reforms, including female
education. After the ascension of King Mu™ammad
æahìr Shàh (r. 1934–72), female education was
gradually reintroduced along with various other
reforms. In 1959, a subtle campaign initiated by
Prime Minister Dàwùd, successfully unveiled women
although purdah prevailed in the rural areas.
The constitution of 1964 granted women the
right to vote. Education at the tertiary level was
coeducational and women were encouraged to par-
ticipate in the government and to enter tradition-
ally male dominated professions. In 1965, a woman
was appointed as minister of public health. Women
were elected to the lower chamber of parliament.
By the early 1970s, Afghanistan had trained seven
female doctors.
The government discouraged polygamy, child
marriages, and domestic violence against women
but in the countryside where governmental author-
ity was minimal these practices continued. Many
Afghans outside the capital and major cities re-
mained unaware of developments that continued
to empower Afghan women. Girls’ schools were
Political Regimes
established in all of the provincial capitals but
enrollment remained substantially lower there.
University-educated women found it more difficult
to find husbands than uneducated women. Many
women found employment as teachers. From the
1950s through the 1970s women made steady gains
as the government encouraged the integration of
women into society, but it was careful not to impose
its policies.
The communist regime (1978–91) led by the
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
introduced radical social reform programs reminis-
cent of Amàn Allàh’s reign. Compulsory literacy
classes for rural women caused an extreme reac-
tion. Coupled with the Soviet occupation a fierce
civil war erupted, which tore the country apart. The
regime, with its active policy of promoting equality
of the sexes, found itself more and more dependent
on women as large portions of the population fled
into exile. Toward the end of this period, the major-
ity of school children and university students were
girls. Women were employed in all sectors, even as
bus drivers.
The Taliban regime (1996–2001) took control of
the country after a brief unsuccessful Afghan In-
terim Government (AIG) ended in inter-party civil
war. The Taliban interpretation of Islam conformed
closely to tribal social norms and essentially
espoused no role for women outside the home. This
reactionary policy banned female education, pre-
vented women from working outside the home, and
forbade them to leave the home without being
accompanied by a close male relative.
The December 2001 internationally brokered
peace in Afghanistan helped establish a process for
the re-establishment of a permanent government in
Afghanistan. Women have been included in the
process for establishing the interim government
and appointed to the cabinet and major commis-
sions. Twenty-five percent of the delegates at the
Constitutional Loya Jirga (December 2003) were
women. Female education has been reinstituted
and women’s groups in the larger urban areas have
an active voice. A nationwide voter registration
campaign has registered large numbers of women
for the national elections scheduled for September- While all of these developments are encour-
aging, the advances made by women in the second
half of the twentieth century will only be regained