International Women's Day in Afghanistan

March 8th is celebrated worldwide as International Women's Day, but in Afghanistan, this means something very different.  Afghanistan has a history of misogyny and discrimination toward the women of the nation but has recently began to give women more rights.  International Women's Day isn't just celebrated on March 8th, but instead spans throughout the duration of March.  Despite the progress that has been made in the recent years to equalize Afghanistan, International Women's Day serves as a reminder for how much further women have to go to be truly equal.  Afghanistan still remains "one of the worst places in the world to be a woman" and is still fighting a domestic war with itself.  Women in Afghanistan didn't have women's suffrage until 2011.  Despite everything that is being done by women and to help women, discrimination still plays a huge part in the daily life of an Afghan woman.  You can read more about the Afghanistan International Women's Day here.

American women have many more freedoms, liberties, and rights than women in other countries and have have many of those rights since the mid to late 1900's.  However, regardless of all the progress that has been made in places like America, discrimination still exists, and has a much larger effect in countries like Afghanistan, which was under Taliban rule until 2001.

I think that it is great that Afghanistan is working so hard for equality but it's horrible that there is a need for so much effort to go into it.  There are many people in Afghanistan who turn a blind eye to the violence and discrimination against women.  The Feminist movement had to fight hard in the U.S and that as without the government being changed at the same time.  There hasn't been fair treatment to women in Afghanistan in a long time and I hope women are given the equality that all people should have very, very soon.