麻豆视频

Professor Jennifer Fluri, a feminist political geographer, notes that the growing restrictions on women and girls are echoing strictness not seen since the 1990s

Speaking at U.N. Headquarters in New York City Monday, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep observed that household pets and rodents in Afghanistan have more rights than women under draconian new Taliban laws rolled out at the end of August.

鈥淭oday in Kabul, a female cat has more freedoms than a woman,鈥� Streep said. 鈥淎 cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls.鈥�

Among other restrictions, the new laws ban women from reciting the Quran in public, raising their voices or looking at men other than their husbands or relatives, and they require all women to cover the lower halves of their faces in addition to covering their heads.

For Jennifer Fluri, a 麻豆视频 professor of geography and chair of the Department of Geography, these newest laws鈥攖he latest in a steadily growing number of restrictions on women enacted since the Taliban regained power in 2021鈥攁re further evidence that for the Taliban, women are easy targets.

Fluri鈥檚 doctoral research focused on the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a clandestine feminist-nationalist organization. From that, her research interests evolved to studying the differentiated methods used by Afghans and internationals in Afghanistan to provide for their own security in spaces increasingly beset by political violence and a general state of insecurity.

From 2012 to 2021, she worked on two projects focusing on women's social and political activism, influence and power in Afghanistan: One examined women's roles in the peace process in Afghanistan, and the second focused on women's leadership and influence at different scales, from home and family to national political participation and governance鈥攁 project funded by the National Science Foundation.

However, despite her deep experience in the country, she hasn鈥檛 been able to travel there since 2019鈥攆irst because of COVID restrictions and then because of those enacted by the Taliban鈥攁nd has pivoted her research focus to Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in the United States and Canada, along with the status of women's rights and their social, political and economic participation in Afghanistan.

Fluri recently spoke with Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine about the newest laws further restricting Afghan girls and women in education, movement and presence in public spaces.

Question: Since 2021, restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan have gotten steadily stricter. How much worse are these new laws going to make their lives?

Fluri: It鈥檚 a huge blow to women, particularly women in urban areas, who had become more used to traveling with just a head scarf, not having to wear a burqa, not having a male escort. As we get further and further from August 2021, the leaders are being more and more emboldened to go back to the 鈥�90s version of the Taliban. At first it seemed like they were going to be more moderate, a sort of Taliban 2.0鈥擨 even thought that was the case, and so did a lot of women鈥檚 organizations and feminist activists鈥攂ut now it鈥檚 looking pretty clear they鈥檙e going to keep cracking down more and more.

I鈥檓 also very critical of what the U.S. 听has done. I don鈥檛 think U.S. officials really took the full time and energy they should have to really do right by Afghan women and girls. It鈥檚 such a diverse population鈥攅ducated urban women have a totally different experience than women in rural areas or women who are more conservative. Some women see Islamic feminism as a path, but even Islamic feminists can鈥檛 work with the Taliban. (The Taliban鈥檚) reading of Islam is so narrow, even though the Quran says women and men are equal before God.

Question: These new laws seem really petty, for lack of a better word; why are the Taliban doing this?

Fluri: To me, it鈥檚 such a silly law. It鈥檚 culturally expected that men and women don鈥檛 make eye contact鈥攊t's a sign of respect鈥攖hat putting it into law seems unnecessary. It鈥檚 just another way of controlling women. I think this is the Taliban wanting all women to follow their very strict interpretations of the Quran and to gather control and power, because this law undercuts family-based or community-based ways of thinking about how people want to express religious beliefs or cultural beliefs, and how to dress or be in public. I hate to say it, but for the Taliban, women are easy targets.

Question: Do you worry that this will further stoke anti-Muslim rhetoric that seems to be getting louder around the world?

Fluri: My biggest frustration with the international aid and development community has been this tendency to blame Islam. Islam isn鈥檛 the problem. Women have more rights in Islam than they do in Afghan cultural practice. If the Taliban were following Islam, women would have many more rights, especially around education. Muhammad鈥檚 first wife, Khadijah, who he had his only surviving children with, worked outside the home. She was his (Muhammad鈥檚) employer. There are so many examples of women, if you go back to the early days of Islam, who were involved in shaping the faith. Khadijah was the first convert to Islam, and Muhammad鈥檚 wife Aisha led men in battle and was the author of many hadiths (words and deeds attributed to the prophet Muhammad written by his closest interlocutors). Women were involved in the early formations of Islam.

Question: Do the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and other feminist groups like it still exist, or have they had to flee the country?

Fluri: They鈥檙e still in operation, but it鈥檚 always been a mostly underground movement鈥攖hey believe in secularism and women鈥檚 rights鈥攁nd now it鈥檚 even deeper underground. They鈥檙e doing work similar to work they were doing in the 鈥�90s: documenting, trying to get more international attention to the plight of women and running secret schools. In Afghanistan, their names have been dragged through the mud 100 times over, so they really do have to be incredibly careful. I would argue that鈥檚 why they have started other organizations in other names, because it allows them to continue to do the work without having such intense surveillance and them constantly being in danger of arrest.

I never published on this, because it鈥檚 not something they would be happy with, but I would argue RAWA has lot more influence in society than we even know about. Women have been educated in RAWA schools; they鈥檝e started their own NGOs and different activist groups with RAWA support. The feminist philosophies of RAWA have kind of grown legs and created additional organizations. A lot of women who were very high-profile activists in Afghanistan have fled or sought asylum, but some have gone back. They鈥檙e working with colleagues or family members to continue to do that work, even though it鈥檚 incredibly difficult now.

A man I worked with for years, who worked as a driver for me and research assistant, I鈥檓 still trying to help his family and him seek asylum. He鈥檚 saying, 鈥楳y daughters have no future here.鈥� It鈥檚 interesting how a number of men are also starting to be like, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 a good place for my daughters.鈥�

Question: Is there anything people in, say, Colorado can do to help Afghan women and girls?

Fluri: Honestly, what I would say is reach out in your community to find out where Afghans who are refugees, who are trying to figure out how to make America work for them, are living. Help them make their way, which is incredibly difficult. It鈥檚 such a different culture from the U.S. and people sometimes have an idealistic vision of the U.S. The reality of trying to make ends meet can be so hard for them. So, I would say reach out to your nearest refugee center. I know does a lot of work with refugees, and so does 听补苍诲 . Even just the local housing and human services does a lot of work to help resettle refugees.

Reaching out to volunteer, such as taking people to appointments, little things like that make such a huge difference. A lot of women who came don鈥檛 speak English, don鈥檛 drive, so their lives are more isolated here than they were in Afghanistan. When you don鈥檛 speak the language or know how to ride a bus in a new place, it can be really daunting just to figure out how to make it work for you and your family. The important thing is to look for organizations that are working with Afghans on their own terms and are not trying to tell people what鈥檚 best for them. Afghans know what鈥檚 best for them.

Top image: Women in traditional burqas walk past Hazrat Ali Mazar Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (Photo: )

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