Posted Date: May 20, 2000
Thousands of Feminists from Around World Gather for Feminist Expo 2000
Thousands of Feminists from Around World Gather for Feminist Expo 2000
Plight of Afghan Women is Highlighted
The three-day Feminist Expo 2000 drew attention to the human rights violations and brutal treatment committed against women living under the Taliban in Afghanistan. Some 7,000 feminists, including InterAction members and staff, from across the United States and the world attended the conference, held on March 31-April 2 in Baltimore. Attendees included 400 women from outside the United States.
"We feel this is just the beginning of a global movement" for women’s rights, said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, whose organization planned the expo. InterAction and several InterAction members Centre for Development and Population Activities, Delphi International, National Council of Negro Women, YWCA of the USA, and Zero Population Growth co-sponsored the conference.
The Feminist Majority Foundation’s "Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan" was emphasized throughout General Assembly sessions and workshops. Conference participants were given a "symbol of remembrance" to wear on their lapels – a square of mesh representing the mesh that covers Afghan women’s eyes when they leave their homes wearing the mandatory burqa.
When the radical Muslim Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, in 1996, they banned girls from school and women from the workplace; and required women to wear the burqa when leaving their homes, and be accompanied by a close male relative. Women’s health has consequently suffered because care by male doctors is forbidden. If Taliban orders are disobeyed, some women are beaten or even killed.
Before the Taliban’s takeover, women comprised of 70% of Kabul’s teachers, 50% of government workers, and 40% of doctors. In response to the virtual house-arrest of women, Amnesty International has adopted all Afghan women as prisoners of conscience. "We feel they are being treated as prisoners by the Taliban," said T. Kumar of Amnesty International, a speaker at the conference.
Several Afghan women living in various parts of the world spoke out about their campaigns to help women in Afghanistan. Shoukria Haider of NEGAR in France noted that a "Women on the Road for Afghanistan" march will take place from June 24 to July 2, in which supporters will walk from Tajikistan to Afghanistan. The march will culminate in a charter of rights drafted by Afghan women’s associations. "[The march will] bring women together from different spheres and allow them to see what’s going on in Afghanistan," said Haider.
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a feminist Afghan group based in Pakistan and working underground in Afghanistan also participated in the conference. RAWA, an all-volunteer organization of 2,000 women, works with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and organizes demonstrations against fundamentalism. But by far their most dangerous work is conducted "underground" in Afghanistan. The group runs literacy and nurse’s training classes for women, human rights education for women, home schools for girls, and helps women to set up income-generating activities. RAWA has urged the United Nations to send peace-keeping forces into Afghanistan "to disarm all the fighting factions and pave the way for elections," said Sajeda Hayat of RAWA. "When they can do something for East Timor, Bosnia, and Cambodia, why not for Afghanistan?" she asked.
The Feminist Majority Foundation’s campaign is also aimed at preventing UN recognition of the Taliban; denying support to corporations that intend to do business with the Taliban; increasing international humanitarian aid to Afghan women and girls; and allowing more Afghan refugees into the United States and other countries. According to the UNHCR, Afghans are the largest refugee group in the world, of which 75% of refugees are women. Unfortunately, said Layli Miller Bashir, an international human rights lawyer, current US law denies asylum to all Afghan refugees.
Many other international issues were discussed at the conference. Suzanne Kindervatter, Director of InterAction’s Commission on the Status of Women (CAW), participated in a panel entitled "Making Progress for Women in Vienna, Cairo and Beijing." Pat Morris, CAW’s Gender Development Specialist, chaired a panel on "Gender, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Assistance." Several speakers stressed the importance of US ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The United States is one of only six countries that has not ratified this convention.
Three panels focused on increasing women’s voice and visibility in the foreign policy agendas, and in peace negotiations. One panel asserted that current US foreign policy does not adequately address women’s concerns and suggested a "gender sensitized" international trade policy. The panelists encouraged women to organize as a constituency around foreign policy issues, and increase their representation in parliaments. Another panel raised the issue that although women often do not participate in international peace processes, they are involved in underground lobbying efforts. The panelists concluded that a quota or alternative measure should be established to ensure women’s participation during peace negotiations.
For more information about the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan, see http://www.feminist.org . For information about NEGAR’s march to Afghanistan, e-mail ellies@club-internet.fr For more information about RAWA, see http://www.rawa.org .
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