Following the September 11 terror attack, the term ‘freedom’ acquired fresh momentum in the global North. However, it captivated America’s national security dialogue in particular. Under the rhetoric of ‘freedom’, the hegemonic masculine American military grew obsessed with protecting the burqa-clad female ‘victims trapped in Afghanistan’. The neo-colonial presumption that Afghani women could be emancipated through American intervention in Afghanistan proved to be unsurprisingly problematic. Evidence has indicated that the insecurity of women exacerbated since the inception of the ‘war on terror’. Numerous women in Afghanistan were displaced during the conflict (and remain soto this day).They continue to endure an unstable economic, political, and social order. Those who fled to neighbouring countries, primarily to Pakistan and Iran as reported by Amnesty International in 2015,were subject to physical and sexual abuse and had restricted access tobasic facilities (i.e. education, healthcare, sanitation etc.) that are imperative to pursuing a decent standard of living. This represents an explicit failure in the American quest for advancing ‘women’s rights.’
The American invasion of Afghanistan governed (in part) by a pseudo-focus on advancing women’s rights was further accentuated in Laura Bush’s speech in 2001. This widespread American liberal feminist thought addressed violence against Afghani women as an outcome of the ideologies imposed by the Taliban male ‘Other’. However, it is this very perspective, representing women from another culture as gendered ‘victims’, that one should be careful of advocating. The tendency to homogenise the experiences of all Muslim women is a rampant limitation of most Western feminist practice, subsequently paving the path to epistemic violence. In addition to cultural/religious insensitivity, their inherent hypocrisy is made apparent when ‘liberation’, which in essence seeks to promote ‘freedom of choice’, equates notions of oppression to various veiling practices widespread in the Afghani culture. The oversimplification of a complex issue in relation to adiverse female population (comprising of cultural, geographical and/or religious identities) enforces elements of neo-colonial violence, thus robbing Afghani women of their agency regarding clothing choices.
With particular focus on Afghanistan, Wylie has demonstrated the importance and implications of focusing on cultural accounts, deep-seated in the history of a nation, in order to understand the foundation of gender order. Utilising the complex historical climate of Afghanistan, one which comprises the decades-long influence of a conservative culture together with the current conflict worsened through foreign funding and support, Wylie has argued that overthrowing the Taliban rule after 9/11andreplacing another government regime would inevitably propose challenges regarding the advancement of ‘(liberal) women’s rights’ constructed by those outside Afghanistan. Counter-productivity concerning the promotion of women’s rights in society or abolishing violence against women altogether is essentially an outcome of their (liberal feminists) failure to formulate strategies that compliment traditional Afghani practices. Hence, we should strive to understand the root causes of injustice apparent in a nation and then, tailor a culturally sensitive approach to combat violence. Otherwise insecurity will continue to prevail, as exhibited in the ‘war on terror.’
Lastly, the voices of those women who have personally encountered the three-fold processes (epistemic, physical, and structural) of violence during the ‘war on terror’ is absent from the discourse. Alack of anecdotes pertaining to an Afghani woman’s cry for help when an invasion in their name is being pursued is rather puzzling. The imposition of such paternalistic belief masked under the rhetoric of freedom has left women voiceless and their agency stripped. It is imperative to note that Afghani women are aware of the obstacles they face to economic, political, and social progress. Their exclusion in the rights debate while being de facto held captive by the daily cycle of violence perpetuated by both the domestic and international community is a key reason as to why insecurity amongst Afghani women is still rampant. This encompasses key implications for academics, policy makers, and the general global arena who provide blind support to those keen to advance the women’s rights discourse but do so clumsily so that no real participation investment is available to actual Afghani women. As long as this remains the case, as long as Afghani women are being patronized in a manner that does not allow them true freedom over their own social rights’ discourse, then it seems unlikely that great progress can be achieved in Afghanistan when it comes to gender equality, gender freedom, and gender security.
It is an undeniable fact that the forceful imposition of American ideals of ‘liberation’ on Afghani women has facilitated an escalation in the three-fold processes of violence. The consequences of military invasion supported by the American government should have been closely observed when it came to the social, political, and development situation for local women. Developing culturally sensitive strategies which address gender order grounded in the historical complexities of a country really needs to be paramount. Without this grounding any force-adoptive strategies placed from above have a small likelihood of lasting once the invading forces withdraw. Lastly, one cannot stress enough on the significance of incorporating indigenous women’s voices explicitly in gender rights discourse. This is a primary step which can enable women (and men) to disrupt the cycle of violence and consequently transfer agency back to the women of Afghanistan (or any other country for that matter). Failure to do so means Western countries will be basically inserting another form of repressive patriarchy in place of the Taliban version. It does not matter that the former is meant to be done with the best of intentions and with improved welfare for local women in mind. Preventing Afghani women from first achieving and then exercising true agency is creating a golden cage. Unfortunately, a cage is still a cage no matter how much it may sparkle compared to the previous one.
Bibliography
- Amnesty International (2015). Global Refugee Crisis – by the numbers. Available: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/global-refugee-crisis-by-the-numbers/[Accessed 3rd November, 2015].
- Husain, M. E., & Ayotte, K. J. (2005). Securing Afghan women: Neocolonialism, epistemic violence, and the rhetoric of the veil. NWSA journal, 17(3),pp. 112-133.
- Wylie, G. (2003). Women’s Rights and Righteous War ‘An Argument for Women’s Autonomy in Afghanistan. Feminist Theory, 4(2), pp. 217-223.
