Ultraconservatism and lack of resources hamper change for Khowsti women

Sitting in her squalid office with few men around, Sa'ira Sharif, the head of the women's affairs department of the eastern border province of Khowst, tells at great length how lack of resources and a web of cultural barriers continue to deprive Khowsti women of their basic social and political rights. "Khowsti women are deprived of all their rights, none of which can be solved very soon," she told IRIN. Illiteracy and cultural complexities presented a more serious threat even than insecurity, discouraging even literate women in the most conservative male-dominated city of Khowst from going out and helping other women, Sharif asserted. "I am the only woman in this department and have been looking for at least one female assistant, but have yet to find one in the past six months," she noted. This despite the fact that there were more than 10 highly educated women in the city, but who were simply not allowed out or would not dare to go outside their homes. Such realities and other gender-related taboos continue to challenge her office, forcing her and her eight-member staff to tread softly. "It is too sensitive and one can easily be misinterpreted," Sharif said, noting that she had already established vocational and literacy courses in the department and hoped to expand to outside districts if the necessary resources were forthcoming. "The government has allocated our department an annual budget of around $2,500, including operational and administrative costs, plus staff salaries, which are considerably limited. Our hands are tied from other possibilities," she said, adding that she had also undertaken to publish a women's monthly, but that too had failed to materialise due to lack of funds. A woman journalist in Khowst, who declined to be named, told IRIN that she had witnessed serious women's rights violations, including forced marriages, and calls for excessive dowries were all too common in the impoverished province. "Unfortunately we witness that widows are forcibly married to their husbands' brothers or close relatives. Moreover, dowries are continuing to grow in size and importance," she said, calling for greater awareness of these negative cultural difficulties. "We have to educate our Khowsti brothers". But such calls will require much more than just rhetoric in this most of conservative of Afghan societies, and many women wonder out loud if such enlightenment will ever be possible without the necessary resources to make it happen. But despite the immense challenge, Sharif remains upbeat, more optimistic given developments over the past few months. "For the first time we have a girls' high school. And although it does not go beyond grade four, it is a significant investment for the future of Khowsti women," she said, noting that she herself was teaching older girls to develop two classes in one year, thereby increasing the level of the high school. "My daughter herself had to repeat grade four as there was no fifth grade for girls in the whole province." According to Tajwar Kaker, a former deputy minister of women's affairs, illiteracy rates are the root cause of women's problems in the province. "I don't think insecurity is a major challenge towards ensuring rights or at least helping women. We need a country-wide public-awareness campaign through clergy, tribal elders and others to enlighten the minds of the men who still follow old concepts and prejudice," Kaker asserted. Meanwhile, Hakim Taniwal, the governor of Khowst, told IRIN there were no security threats against women, but cultural impediments ran very deep, requiring much time, effort and resources to overcome. "Of course we have cultural problems which need time, but we have also seen some significant achievements," Taniwal said. He prided himself for the fact that they had been able to find six female candidates for the constitutional Loya Jirga (General Assembly), while school enrolment for girls had increased immensely over previous years.