Fiona
Hodgson is a former Chairman of the Conservative Women's Organisation
and is Vice President of the National Conservative
Convention.
Afghanistan is never out of the news and today is no exception after yesterday's conference in London. The situation there causes us all much concern. There is no doubt that our troops are doing a wonderful job in very difficult circumstances and it is painful to have lost so many of our servicemen – over 100 killed last year alone and many more critically injured.
However, thoughts of Afghanistan also lead me to think about the women there and what a terribly harsh existence it is for so many of them. “Afghanistan is one of the most harrowing places in the world to be a woman,” writes Barbara Stocking, the Chief Executive of Oxfam, in The Female Face of Afghanistan.
This publication was launched on International Human Rights Day on
10th December at an event organised by Tony Baldry MP and the
Conservative Human Rights Commission and you can read more about it (and download it) on their website.
It is a collection of writings and the authors range from Afghan
politicians to schoolgirls writing in secret and they also include
distinguished authors, former diplomats, NGOs and others. In putting
this report together, the aim was not only to highlight the parlous
position of women in Afghanistan but also to offer some recommendations
of ways forward that might help them.
Some of the statistics are truly terrible. Of course it is hard to get accurate numbers – I don’t think anyone is even sure of the figure of the total population there now. However, it is estimated that 87% women suffer from domestic violence and over 60% of marriages are forced. It has one of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in the world, with a woman dying every 27 minutes from a pregnancy-related cause and one in four children not reaching their fifth birthday. In Kabul alone there are around 70,000 widows, many unable to support themselves and nearly all of the 37,000 street children there are fatherless. Many millions of pounds, dollars and euros are being sent there in aid – but there is concern that the aid rarely reaches the most needy people at the grassroots, for whom it was sent.
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