Afghanistan: Women and Reconstruction

Even though the people of Afghanistan in general suffered under the rule of the Taliban, women lived difficult lives, enduring terrible hardships. They were denied basic human rights, forced to wear veils and kept in seclusion. This work addresses the society, politics, and national identity of Afghan women and places them within their gender-political and religious-political roles, thus elevating our understanding of their abuse, imprisonment and murder, and offering a basis for their reconstruction efforts. Powerful and moving interviews with Afghan women parliamentarians conducted and translated are presented and a brief history of the struggle of the Afghan women and an overview of the conflict between the Afghans and the Taliban are included.