She was beaten with whips and rocks because she wasn't wearing shoes...

By WAZHMA FROGH

There are many commonly-held beliefs about life for women under the Taliban in Afghanistan, but few stories. Please allow me to tell you one.

At the time, I was living in Pakistan and often had to return to my homeland for work or to visit relatives. Each time, I would have to tell my father one month before, to allow him to grow his beard so he could accompany me, otherwise we could not travel.  One day when we crossed the border into Afghanistan, we saw a crowd of people and could hear a woman and a young child screaming.

Pushing my way closer to see what was happening, I saw a woman being beaten to a bloody pulp with whips and rocks, with her young child next to her who would scream every time that she screamed.

Turning to those next to me, I asked what this lady had done. A man responded instantly, “It is obvious can’t you see? Her feet are naked!” Although she was wearing the burqa that had become a uniform for women under the Taliban, she had thongs on her feet.

Thongs on her feet. That was why the ‘vice and virtue police’ were punishing her.

Since those dark days, women have made enormous gains in Afghanistan. I have been in Australia for the past week with male and female colleagues to talk about women’s rights – this in itself is evidence of how far Afghan women have come in the past 11 years since international forces removed the Taliban.

I had the great opportunity to meet with many of your parliamentarians last week at Parliament House, and speak to them about these issues. We presented them with recommendations from a two-day roundtable held in Melbourne, on how Australia can help to promote and protect the rights of Afghan women through transition and post-2014.

It’s the support and understanding of Australian women that we need. In my time here, I have learned that Australians are caring, compassionate people, who care deeply about the plight of women in Afghanistan. However, they are not aware of how far we have come in the last decade, and the difficulties we would face should the world forget us once their troops leave.

Women need to be involved in the process of moving to a new Afghanistan. We need to have a voice and a meaningful presence in the peace talks and negotiations. But right now, we are not.

If we are not at the table, we’re on the menu.

Afghan women’s rights should not come at the expense of peace. Australia is a country with the two most important jobs filled by women. There are no countries more qualified to speak out on behalf of women.

As a member of the international community and an important donor to the effort in Afghanistan, we look up to Australia to question where Afghan women are in the political settlements and reconciliation processes.

We look up to the female Prime Minister and her leadership to ensure that women’s rights activists and defenders are supported in Afghanistan through Australian aid and political support.

And it is through the voices of Australian women that we can ensure that Australia’s leaders will act.

In order to get a seat at the table, Afghan women need to feel safe and secure. If women are threatened and pressured into silence, faced with constant insecurity, how can I, and women like me, continue our struggle for women’s rights? If our male political class, scared of the return of the Taliban, and turning to conservatism to protect themselves, jeopardising our years of struggle and accomplishments, then what have Australian forces sacrificed their lives for?

The gains made by Afghan women during the past decade are real and historic. Afghan women are the symbols of progress and democracy. The way we ensure that Afghanistan does not slip back into the dark age that it was when it was a hub for terrorism and extremism, when women were pelted with rocks for showing their toes, is by supporting and standing by Afghan women. It is the women who will make Afghanistan great.

Wazhma Frogh is  an Afghan gender and development specialist who received the 2009 International Woman of Courage Award.  She co-founded the Women, Peace & Security Research Institute (RIWPS) which advocates for women’s inclusion in the Afghanistan peace process.