You might not realize it, but there exists a tragic story seldom heard in the ongoing debate concerning Canada’s military role in Afghanistan. The echo of this tragedy, to which we Canadians seem so blissfully oblivious, originates in the heart of that war-torn country, as the collective voice of an oppressed population.
This echo calls to the rest of the world for salvation, but sadly, by the time it has made its way westward across the tumultuous airspace of Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, its voice is lost in the dissonance of these supposedly more important conflicts. Even across the Atlantic, its plight does not improve, for here on the shores of the “free” western world, its subdued whisper is all but lost amidst the unending rabble of celebrity love-triangles and 30-second commercials that compete for our attention, and win.
This echo, which we hear so little of and seem to care so little about, is the untold story of the Afghan woman.
Prior to the cessation of Taliban control over Afghanistan as a result of the American campaign in 2001, women there suffered under horrific and misogynistic tyranny redolent of a Margaret Atwood novel. The nature of this sickening abuse extended far beyond a lack of suffrage or equal rights.
Under the Taliban, women were forbidden to leave their homes unless accompanied by a close male relative. They also were not allowed to be employed, pursue an education, be heard by strangers outside their home, or expose any portion of their skin in public.
Failure to adhere to any one of these laws, or the dozens of others that turned women into docile chattels, was frequently punishable by brutal torture, public humiliation, or violent execution. In particular, public stoning was a popular form of capital punishment for female offenders, as it embodied the Taliban’s notion of punishment as a public event.
The years following the breakdown of the Taliban and the creation of a new democratic government have seen drastic advancements in the struggle for freedom and equality for women in Afghanistan. However, aspects of the former hatred towards women still exist in large parts of the country where tradition dies hard-particularly those remote areas still partially under the influence of Taliban insurgents. It is these dwindling strongholds of Taliban fighters that NATO contingents, now largely made up of Canadian soldiers, have been seeking to eradicate in the past few months.
In these predominantly rural regions of the country, women are still suffering under years of mental conditioning that have forced them to accept the notion that they are little more than animals owned by the men in their lives. If ever there was a cause worthy of Canada’s resources and military, surely dismantling this misguided notion and freeing these women from such slavery tops the list.
This is not to say that NATO forces in Afghanistan fight with this intention as their sole motivation. Yet every time Canadian men and women break a Taliban stronghold and liberate a previously oppressed region of the country, they score a victory in the battle for the freedom of women in Afghanistan. To prevent these brave soldiers from completing this mission would leave hundreds of thousands of innocent women at the mercy of their tormentors.
The Taliban was not, and is not, beaten. Although much of the country now lies under the control of its new government and the coalition forces, there is a considerable amount of ground left for NATO to cover.
As long as areas exist where women are prisoners in a hellish nightmare of servitude and misery, leaving Afghanistan should not be an option for our military. To do so would be a disgrace to our country, a disgrace to the soldiers who have already died, and a disgrace to every Canadian who claims to believe in Canada’s obligation to stop human rights abuses wherever they may occur.
