A Mighty Girl
From a Facebook post by A Mighty Girl
(While this post focuses on actions in Afghanistan, be assured these biases exist everywhere.)
A group of Afghan men marched in Kabul on Thursday to call attention to women's rights by wearing head-to-toe blue burqas -- a highly visible symbol of women's oppression during the years of Taliban control and one that is still commonly seen in Afghanistan today. One marcher explained his participation in this unusual protest: "I walked the streets today in a burqa to understand how my sisters and mothers face violence from men on a daily. I wanted to understand the situation."
The march was scheduled in advance of today's celebration of International Women's Day. “Our authorities will be celebrating International Women's Day in big hotels, but we wanted to take it to the streets,” stated 29-year-old activist Basir. They carried signs with slogans such as “women's pain is our pain, equality is our slogan," “We say ‘no’ to all forms of violence,” and "Don't tell women what to wear, you should cover your eyes." Several reported that wearing a burqa felt “like a prison.”
Another protest focused on the oppression of women in Afghan society took place in late February when Afghan artist Kubra Khademi held a solo protest against the country's high rates of violence against women. The artist walked through the streets of Kabul wearing metal armor shaped in the contours of a woman's body in protest of the frequent sexual harassment and groping that she says all women experience when out in public. In discussing her project, Khademi explained: "How many times a day could I fight this exhausting fight? Reality was more powerful than I was. So I decided to put on a street performance to show men that their behavior is indecent, and to show society what women have to put up with every day."
Khademi had planned on walking for ten minutes through one of Kabul's most populated neighborhoods but had to abandon her effort after only eight minutes. A crowd began following her and then attacking her and journalists who had come to watch the performance with their fists and rocks. Even after she fled to a taxi, young men continued to punch the car. Following her protest, angry men showed up at her house so she was forced to hide at friends’ houses.
Even given these risks, Khademi asserts that it's critical that women speak up for their rights: "Women have to tear down this wall of silence. We must talk about this problem as much as possible and put pressure on the authorities to do something. If I don’t speak up now, one day my daughter will face this sort of harassment, and her daughter after her. My generation has to break this vicious cycle."
You can read more about the men’s protest at http://reut.rs/1Ejqhzl and the artist’s solo protest at
http://f24.my/1DPoxZu
For more stories of girls and women living under oppressive circumstances, visit
http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/oppression-repression
For stories of both real-life and fictional girls and women confronting gender discrimination and prejudice in a multitude of forms, visit our "Gender Discrimination" section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination?cat=69
For a highly recommended book for older teens and adults that discusses how girls and women are fighting back against oppression and transforming their communities, check out: "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" at http://www.amightygirl.com/half-the-sky
There are also two films that explore the transformative potential and power of girls and women in developing countries - both for ages 13 and up: the documentary based on the “Half the Sky" book (http://www.amightygirl.com/half-the-sky-documentary) and “Girl Rising” (http://www.amightygirl.com/girl-rising).
Are you part of the problem, or will you be part of the solution? How? What are you doing to do – in your professional and personal spheres of influence?