No Name, No Face, No Rights By: Sally Student

What Will Be Covered Introducing the Injustice -Abuse -Lack of Opportunity -Inequality -Suicide Attempts What You Can Do -Supporting Organizations -Donate and Volunteer

Imagine…. Having to cover yourself from head to toe, even covering your eyes Not being able to work Not being able to leave your house without a male escort Not allowed to have medical help from a male doctor

What Afghan Women Endure in Their Everyday Lives: Abuse Lack of opportunity No equality The only life that they know Suicide

Abuse Afghanistan has the worst records of violence against women. Women will forever be abused. The men of Afghanistan believe that it is their natural right to abuse the women in their lives. In eight out of ten cases, a family member is responsible for a violent attack on a woman.

Bibi Aisha بيبي عائشة One night her husband beat her so badly, that she thought she might die, but when she tried to leave, he and several other men severed off her nose, ears, and hair. “If I had the power, I would kill them all.” – Bibi Aisha

Lack of Opportunity Nine out of ten women are illiterate In parts of the country women are not allowed to get an education and are forbidden to work School girls have acid thrown in their faces 40% of Afghan girls attend elementary school One in twenty girls attend school beyond the sixth grade 3 times more boys attend school than girls Women are looked upon as the homemaker 6,500 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births

Maida-Khal المائدة الخال When Maida-Khal was 12, she was married to a 70 year old man. After they were married, she asked for a divorce, but was put in prison instead Women and girls cannot go to school or get an education without their husbands consent Most women are married at very young ages, and are from that day forward, they are a possession of their one husband "I am in jail because I don't have a mahram. I can’t get a divorce, and I can't leave prison without a man.” – Maida-Khal

Inequality Afghanistan has the worst statistics for gender equality. Women are married for money to pay off depts. Afghan men believe that women do not have a choice. Men believe that women are only in their life for them to do whatever they want with them.

Blood Money A new law effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying the girl who was injured when he raped her

Sahar Gul ح جول This is 15-year-old Sahar Gul She was locked in a basement and tortured for five months by her in- laws Only because she refused to be forced into prostitution Sahar Gul was tortured because she made a choice.

The Only Life That They Know… Everyday, women are verbally and physically abused. Men tell them that are worthless and cannot accomplish anything. They do not see how the rest of the world’s women are treated, They do not know how the rest of the world lives.

Suicide Attempt Fariba Age: 11 فريبا Why she and others do it: Many women burn themselves to commit suicide because they feel it is the only way to get away from the abuse and hardships After, if the woman live through the attempt, she feel ashamed of herself and is full of regret Their husband or family members often punish them for this act "I took the bottle of petrol and burned myself. When I returned to school, the kids made fun of me. They said I was ugly." She now says, "I regret my mistake.” – Fariba

Afghan women are told what they have to do, when they have to do it, and what their only purpose is as a whole. America has to aid this injustice.

What You Can Do… Afghan Women’s Mission (AWM) Projects and programs ran by AWM include: Malalai Clinic Schools Orphanages Agricultural programs Support of women’s human rights

What You Can Do… Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan RAWA’s goal is for: Peace Freedom Democracy Equality To help with this goal, you can donate and volunteer your time.