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1 1 (August 18, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveejn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C o gr s io a R e ea c Ser ic 0 Updated August 18, 2021 Afghan Women and Girls: Status and Congressional Action The status of Afghan women and girls is increasingly precarious in light of the Taliban's takeover of the country in mid-August 2021. Given the Taliban's views on women's rights, and entrenched cultural attitudes (particularly in rural areas), the status of Afghan women and girls has long been a topic of congressional concern and action. Concern among some Members of Congress has increased in the wake of the drawdown of U.S. military and civilian personnel and the Taliban takeover. Reports indicate that the Taliban have re-imposed restrictions on women in some areas taken in 2021. In addition to fears for the rights, health, and economic wellbeing of Afghan women broadly, some Members' immediate concerns focus on evacuation and visa questions, with a longer-term focus on how, if at all, U.S. policies might induce a Taliban-led government to respect women's rights. Since 2001, Members of Congress have attempted to promote and safeguard the rights of Afghan women through oversight and funding-related legislative measures. Background on the Status of Women Decades of war after 1978 and the repressive five-year rule of the Taliban severely undermined the rights and development of Afghan women, who had been granted equal rights under the 1964 constitution. Since 2001, Afghan women have made advancements in areas such as political representation, education, employment, and health care. Afghan women still lag behind Afghan men, as well as women globally, on many development indicators tracked by international organizations (see Table 1). Table I. Selected Development Indicators Development Indicator Afghanistan, 2000 Afghanistan, 2018 Global Avg., 2018 Life expectancy at 57 (F) 66 (F) 75 (F) birth 55 (M) 63 (M) 70 (M) Maternal deaths per 1,450 638 211 100,000 births Births per woman 7.5 4.5 2.4 Mean years of 0.8 (F) 1.9 (F) N.A. schooling 3.7 (M) 6.0 (M) Est. GNI per capita $445 (F) $1,102 (F) $11,246 (F) (2011 PPP$) $I,167 (M) $2,355 (M) $20,168 (M) Source: Created by CRS. Data from U.N. Development Program, World Bank, World Health Organization. Notes: GNI= Gross National Income; PPP= purchasing power parity; N.A.= no data available. 2018 is the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available. The Afghan government, with U.S. and international support, had ensured some representation for women in government and had instituted some legal protections. The 2004 Afghan constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and enshrines equal rights between men and women. It mandates that at least two women be elected to the lower house of parliament from each of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, creating a female representation quota of about 27% in the lower house and 17% in the upper house. The Afghan government had also committed to achieving 30% representation of women in the civil service (around 27% as of 2019) and increasing the number of women in the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) (just over 2% as of May 2021). Some recent surveys suggested that traditional, restrictive views of gender roles and rights, including some views consistent with the Taliban's former practices, remain broadly held, especially in rural areas and among younger men. Discrimination, harassment, and violence against women reportedly was endemic in government-controlled areas and in government ministries. In December 2020, the United Nations reported that while the response by the justice sector to violence against women ... continues to improve, the system also fails women and girls in a number of respects, with less than half of documented cases of violence against women progressing to adjudication. The Taliban and Women's Rights During their rule between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban perpetrated egregious acts of violence against women as part of a war against women, according to a 2001 State Department report. Based on their particularly conservative interpretation of Islamic practice, the Taliban prohibited women from working, attending school after age eight, and appearing in public without a male blood relative and without wearing a burqa. Women accused of breaking these or other restrictions suffered severe corporal or capital punishment, often publicly. These practices attracted near- universal condemnation from the international community. The Taliban have controlled parts of Afghanistan for years. They have not described in detail what role women would play in a Taliban-governed society now that they control the country. In February 2020, deputy Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani wrote of an Islamic system ... where the rights of women that are granted by Islam-from the right to education to the right to work-are protected. Skeptics note that a pledge to safeguard the rights of women according to Islam is subjective and echoes similar pledges made by the Taliban while previously in power. In some areas taken since May 2021, the Taliban have reportedly forced women to marry Taliban fighters, imposed other restrictions on women's rights, and carried out targeted killings against women. Since taking power in August 2021, Taliban leaders have called on women government employees to return to their posts, only if they wear the hijab (headscarf). ittps://crsreports.congress.g(

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