Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

The Challenges of Gender Inequality in Afghanistan

The challenges of gender inequality in Afghanistan has been raising on for decades, as the modern society has redefined the role of a woman, which is vastly different from what it’s used to be in the traditional society. However, patriarchy and gender inequality is always a touchy topic when it comes to Afghanistan because it is largely influenced by religious beliefs and the diverse cultures. In many Parts of Afghanistan, Women are still largely considered to be lowly to men, as women are only seen fit to be home keepers and child bearers.
  Causes of gender inequality in Afghanistan
A. Improper Education
“Knowledge is power.” It might not be a strong point, but this is pointing more towards some parts of Afghanistan that are rejecting western views on women, to stick to cultural ones. Education is nothing if you leave all you learn in school and still behave like a savage when you get back home. In other words, it must be obvious that you are educated. There are two ways to this, a community that’s poorly educated can never know the worth of women and a woman that is not educated cannot know her rights. It has also been noticed that parents don’t usually encourage the education of their female children because they believe it will be of no benefit to them, as any money or success she earns in the future, due to her education, will be of her husband’s, not their’s. 
B. Tradition and Culture
Tradition is said to be the custom of a particular society, while culture is simply the way of life. Tradition and Culture do  not allow women become a ruler among the ethnic groups. In fact, it is deemed an abomination in almost every ethnic group. Thus, the typical cultural dogma has plagued many thrones and political seats in Afghanistan. 
C. Mentality 
It’s hard to keep “mentality” as a standalone point, as it is largely influenced by culture and tradition. However, if you look at it from a subjectively, from a woman’s view, it stands alone. The reason that many women are not ambitious is that they believe top positions are meant for men. Even some ladies complain about having a female boss simply because they are used to having a male boss. It almost seems clandestine for women to want to occupy a political position or the hot sit in a company. Such a mentality is usually created and forged by a woman’s immediate environment. 
D. Religion
It’s obvious that religion is one of the top contributors to gender inequality in the world. Some religions or religious practices restrict the role of women to just domestic roles, making it impossible for them to even think about holding a political post. However, religion is one of the many things that guide the masses in living a good and peaceful life. Religion is one of the biggest contributors to peace on earth.
Afghan women face numerous challenges to enjoy equality. Ensuring gender equality requires both the Afghan government and society to take bold and practical steps to curb gender discrimination. Afghan government not only shall develop pro gender equality policies and laws but it shall put them in place. At the same time, Afghan society shall dare to embrace the modern values and principles in terms of gender issues in the country. Reaching social equality is hard, but not impossible.