Afghan women in public life have always struggled, but the involvement of the international community in Afghanistan over the past eight and a half years opened space for women that did not exist under Taliban rule. Current trends, though, are negative. Women’s participation in politics and public life generally is declining, and, alarmingly, violence against women who venture out of the private sphere is spiking across the country.
On April 14, an 18 year old woman stepped outside the Kandahar office of US-based development firm Development Alternatives International (DAI). A gunmen was waiting for her. With at least nine gunshot wounds, the woman died at the scene. Local authorities blamed the Taliban. The press did not print the victim’s name, presumably out of concern for her family’s safety.
To read further the complete news story please visit The UN Dispatch.
Afghan women in public life have always struggled, but the involvement of the international community in Afghanistan over the past eight and a half years opened space for women that did not exist under Taliban rule. Current trends, though, are negative. Women’s participation in politics and public life generally is declining, and, alarmingly, violence against women who venture out of the private sphere is spiking across the country.
On April 14, an 18 year old woman stepped outside the Kandahar office of US-based development firm Development Alternatives International (DAI). A gunmen was waiting for her. With at least nine gunshot wounds, the woman died at the scene. Local authorities blamed the Taliban. The press did not print the victim’s name, presumably out of concern for her family’s safety.
To read further the complete news story please visit The UN Dispatch.