I was struggling to find blog ideas when I suddenly came across the Desert Dawn Magazine next to a reporter's office. I have always enjoyed reading this student magazine produced by Dubai Women's college. It covers a variety of topics from female circumcision to incest, which many people consider taboo to discuss publicly.
I knew I would find something interesting to blog about while reading the students' work. An article titled "In search for hope" left me to ponder for a while. It talked about Afghan women fighting for their rights. I always used to hear the phrase "a male-dominated society," but couldn't understand it properly until I thoroughly started reading more about the lives of Afghan women.
A male-dominated society is one that benefits men in laws, education, academia and day-to-day life. In the case of Afghanistan, women there are subjugated, oppressed and have few rights. Marriage is a source of pain for many women there. Nazima, a 14-year-old girl, was forced to marry a man who was 40 years older. He tortured her and locked her in a room with little food and water. She went through all of these torments because she asked to go to school. After reading her story, I thought to myself that some humans are quite inhuman.
There was another incident where the husband poured acid on his wife's face because he assumed she committed adultery with the neighbour. What a sick mentality!
Some men perceive women as the source of evil, forgetting that their mothers, who just happen to be women, were the reason they exist.
I believe that nation's wrath has empowered many Afghan women. Witnessing war, rape, suicide, murder and bloodshed repeatedly, they still hope for a bright future. The falling of the Taliban was good news. I wonder how many more years it will take for the women of Afghanistan to feel safe and live life like other women around the world.
