Afghan women continue to suffer despite the West

One of the reasons advanced for the West fighting in Afghanistan has been that were the Taliban to again assume power, such gains, like the opportunity to gain an education, as Afghanistan's women have made in the last years, would be lost. Not a reason for the West to be in the country a former female Afghani MP says - as The Age reports:

"The plight of women in Afghanistan is no excuse for Western ''occupation'' of the country, a leading Afghan opponent of the war and former MP has declared.

Malalai Joya - the youngest woman elected to the Afghanistan Parliament, in 2004, who then faced death threats for her outspoken criticism of tribal warlords - said the image of Afghan women was being unfairly used to justify the foreign presence.

''The tragic situation of women under the Taliban was a very good excuse for the US and NATO after the 9/11 tragedy to occupy the country,'' Ms Joya told The Age yesterday during a visit to Melbourne.

Time magazine recently featured a cover photo of a mutilated, 19-year-old Afghan woman, Aisha, after her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband. The photo carried the caption: ''What happens if we leave Afghanistan.''

But Ms Joya said despite the presence of the Western troops, women continued to suffer.

''They replaced the Taliban with fundamentalist warlords, who are the same like the Taliban - they are misogynist and have committed many crimes against women and human rights,'' she said.

''Today, most of the women are wearing the burqa just to be alive because of security reasons.''

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