Eight years on, why educate Afghan women?

Eva Sajoo
Remarks presented at the CESS Conference, University of Toronto,
October 9, 2009.  

I would like to share the focus of my recent research on Afghanistan and the challenges in educational provision common to transitional societies.   My study compared educational challenges in Afghanistan to those in other transitional contexts, including Tajikistan, South Africa and Indonesia.  While the parallels and divergences are fascinating, I will focus here on only two questions.

First, what is the link between human rights, education and stability?

Second, why is the education of women and girls critical to a successful political transition?

After eight years of international involvement in Afghanistan, there are strong voices in the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Europe calling for withdrawal.  The pressure for an “exit strategy” is building, and the remaining objectives seem to have narrowed to containing the insurgency and establishing an edifice of government and law enforcement which can be “handed over” as expediently as possible.  Nation-building seems to be associated with the rhetoric of the Bush administration, and is consequently no longer a major platform.

Education is a human right, as is often listed, along with personal security, food, shelter, the right to vote, freedom of expression, and a host of other items mentioned in the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and on Economic and Social Rights.   It is therefore conceptualised as one of many rights, and one which should be provided by the government as a public service.   In transitional societies, especially Afghanistan, provision of public services is challenging, as resources are scarce and much of the country remains outside the rule of law.

Access to public services is always difficult for vulnerable groups: these include the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and women.  In transitional periods, during which the legitimacy and efficacy of the government is weak, these already vulnerable groups always face increased marginalisation unless special measures are taken. 

The education of women has sometimes been seen as an accessory to progress, to be considered after more pressing concerns – such as peace and security- have been addressed.  It may be viewed as a “women’s issue”, or something over which “respect for local culture” takes priority.  This is especially true in Afghanistan where the education of women has been such a contentious and provocative issue.

What is not always acknowledged is that education is not merely one right among many; it is critical to the realisation of any human rights at all.  Without access to education, vulnerable groups lack the capabilities to understand, articulate and access the human rights promised in the Constitution, and the frameworks intended to protect them.  This greatly increases the risk of ongoing abuse.

Women for Women International conducted a survey in Afghanistan this year, in which groups of women were provided with education and information about human rights and the Afghan Constitution.  They were subsequently asked questions about how they would respond to situations of abuse.  Their responses before and after the training changed markedly, and were much more assertive than those of women who had received no education.(1)  The significance of the study was to show that when women have information, they are less inclined to regard abuse as something they must put up with.  When they are aware that exploitative practices are officially condemned, they are less likely to remain apathetic or resigned.

There is clearly a link between education which provides literacy and access to information, and the realisation of human rights, the mobilisation of civil society, and informed democratic processes.  The kind of Afghan state that will be left if education remains inadequate is one in which human rights remain a normative declaration.

These are the reasons why education cannot simply be listed along with other public services to be provided as and when resources are more abundant.  It is foundational to the nature of the political transition now in process in Afghanistan. Why the education of women in particular is so important is the question to which I now turn. 

There are numerous reasons why educating women must be a priority.  First, the education of women is directly related to mortality rates- and not just for women.  Women who are uneducated remain dependent on male family members, and must accept the decisions of others, even when these are harmful to themselves or their children.  Naila Kabeer has shown that a woman’s risk of abuse is directly related to her “perceived economic value”.  When a woman is able to bring income into the household her value (and bargaining power) increases, and her risk of abuse declines.(2)   The maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan remains among the highest in the world, as are childhood mortality and malnutrition levels.(3) This is due to poverty, poor information, and lack of access for medical services.  All three causes and problems can be addressed by educating women.

Failing to educate women robs the country of half its economic resources.  Economic studies(4) show significant increases in productivity across sectors, when labourers are educated.  This includes agriculture, on which many in Afghanistan depend.  The poverty rates are high, and the country can ill afford to sacrifice potential economic growth in its attempt to stabilise.

Because uneducated women are excluded from the political and democratic processes of transition, the policies formed in this critical period are unlikely to recognise their particular needs. Indeed, laws which institutionalise their disadvantage will be the likely result.  The much-publicised Shi’i Personal Status Law is an example of this. 

Women are routine victims of violence in Afghanistan. If they remain uneducated, this is unlikely to change.  Instead, the practice of subduing weaker individuals with force and violence will continue to seem normal.  Allowing this to continue has effects which will not be confined to a sealed “domestic sphere”. It will color the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, and even competing interests within the community. A number of studies have been done on the effect of exposure to violence on children.  In the Occupied Territories of Palestine, a group of children were studied.  They had routine experiences of witnessing and receiving violent treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers.  It is no coincidence that 93% of them admitted to committing acts of vandalism and violence.[5] Domestic violence is not a “women’s issue” but one which affects the nature of the communities in which it takes place. Failure to educate women leaves them with few options in the face of abuse.

Of course, not all education is equal.  It is possible to reproduce social inequalities in the classroom.  However, in Afghanistan, getting women into classrooms at all is already a major advance. As the international community is learning, the type of education on offer affects its success.  Sensitivity to local concerns may involve sex-segregated classrooms and the inclusion of religious teaching.  Imposing an external model is unlikely to achieve results.

Without education, access to human rights will remain a fiction for women and other vulnerable groups in Afghanistan.  Rights will be no more than “nonsense on stilts’, to quote Jeremy Bentham.  This undermines the legitimacy of the Constitution, with its promises of equality for all citizens, and Afghanistan’s commitment to international agreements like the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination and violence Against Women (CEDAW).   In that context, Afghanistan will remain a country shaped only by those with the economic and political resources to secure their own interests – a recipe for long-term disaster. 

Failure to develop women will leave the next generation more receptive to Taliban-style ideologies, which emphasize the inherent inferiority of women and legitimize violence as a way of life.  Dropping female education from the list of priorities for international engagement in Afghanistan would be a grave mistake.  The education of Afghan women is not an addition – it is a condition for an effective transition.

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