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From Behind the Veil
Friday, January 4, 2002
News Review:
The Sydney Morning Herald

Afghan women are slow to pull back the burqa, writes Christopher Kremmer, because many do not see it as a priority.

It was the symbol of Taliban oppression, the head-to-foot "chaderi" or burqa. But as Afghan women prepare to enter a new era, not all believe that lifting the veil is an urgent priority.

For a senior United Nations official it's nothing less than a barometer of the success of the new government, but for most the issue seems to rank behind security, education and jobs.

For the past six years, all Afghan women between puberty and old age were required by law to cover their faces and the rest of their bodies, except hands and feet, in the all-enveloping veil.

The majority of the population of some 25 million people were confined to their homes, barred from walking the streets except in the company of a male relative. Women caught breaking the ban were routinely beaten and accused of more serious crimes, such as prostitution.

Now, with a new interim administration in place, there is hope that Afghan women will get their best deal in a generation.
(More: SMH.com News Source)
2002 © The Sydney Morning Herald.

Dan