Three hundred women in Afghanistan gathered Tuesday at the Afghan Women’s Broad and Comprehensive Conference in Kabul, urging equal rights for women in all spheres, reported Reuters. Organized by the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the local weekly Women’s Mirror, the event provided an open forum where representatives discussed the continued harassment and abuse faced by women, following the Taliban’s removal from power over one year ago. In their final declaration, the attendees called for wider participation in political, economic, and social areas as well as the inclusion of women’s rights in the new constitution. A first draft of the new constitution is expected later this month. The women are calling for a panel of women’s groups to approve the constitution before it is ratified. “We want to ensure that all government policies and programs clearly and fully observe women’s rights,” said Minister of Women’s Affairs Habiba Suhrabi , according to NNI.
Despite the Taliban’s fall from power, fundamentalists persist among members of the current Afghan government. In Herat province last month, new restrictions on female education were introduced, prohibiting men from teaching girls and women in private and imposing strict gender segregation in all schools, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report.
The Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls is working to increase funding, expand peacekeeping troops, and provide resources for the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Human Rights Commission in order to restore the rights of Afghan women and girls.
6/19/2013 House Passes 20 Week Abortion Ban - Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved a nationwide abortion ban after 20 weeks gestation in a vote of 228 to 196. . . .
6/18/2013 Supreme Court Strikes Down Proof of Citizenship Voter Requirements - On Monday, the United States Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before being allowed register to vote.
In an opinion written [PDF] by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court ruled that the Arizona statute violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA, also known as the "Motor Voter Law") of 1993, which created a federal form that individuals can mail in to register to vote in federal elections. . . .
