The Associazione Solidarietà Donne per le Donne (ASDD), founded in Italy by a group of Afghan refugees and Melitea, supports the fight against the fundamentalist and misogynistic Taliban regime.
In Afghanistan, it is not a crime to rape one’s wife, not a person, but a sexual object; oppressive and gratuitous prohibitions against women of all ages are extended every day. You have no right to education after the age of 12; you have no right to work, play, sing, dance, paint, go to the park, play sports and laugh in public. Despite some limited freedoms during the period of Western occupation, the return of the Taliban, as was to be expected, set the clocks of history back a thousand years.
With this campaign, we want to support the women fighting for democracy and freedom in Afghanistan, who have been committed for years to defeating the misogynistic patriarchy that still finds many supporters in the various tribes and ethnic groups that make up the country.
After the emotional surge caused by the images last August, total silence has fallen on Afghanistan on the part of the media and public opinion.
Before the Taliban took over, Afghanistan was already one of the most dangerous countries for women; inequality, discrimination, and gender-based violence were common.
In Afghanistan, following a typical South Asian tradition, families celebrate the birth of a boy but not that of a girl. Women are considered naqis-e-aql (stupid at birth), and the term “woman” is used by men as a slur.
Historically Afghanistan is a tribal, patriarchal country based on nomadic pastoralism and sedentary agriculture, organized along patrilineal lines, in which gender roles and the status of women are connected to property relations. Women in the extended family are an economic asset, such as land, a house, or livestock, and belong to a man. The women live in purdah, are confined in the house, and are denied the right to property and inheritance.
The whole life revolves around the concept of “honor”
of the family, which men protect. Like other societies in the same area, North India and Pakistan, Afghan society is culturally “against women”, and they are socialized to sacrifice their health and their very lives. Women in this culture have no right to “knowledge”, which could lead to revolt against the father or later the husband.
According to the 2022 Gender Gap Global Index, Afghan women occupied the last place out of 146 countries, far behind the second to last. But the previous year was always the last out of 156. Before the return of the Taliban regime, therefore, with the same score.
Surely the 2023 report will report a dramatic worsening of the situation.
Afghan women, like those around the world, are denied basic human rights. The July 2022 United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report confirms this. The Taliban are responsible for extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and violations of fundamental freedoms, particularly against ethnic and religious minorities and women who do not give up in the face of violence.
Democratic and anti-fascist Afghan women will hold the banner of freedom high. We want to support them in this fight for a free and independent Afghanistan!
Joined the campaign
Libertàdivivere# #Freedomtolive
Associations, Groups
ASDD Associazione Solidarietà Donne per le Donne
GRUPPO MELITEA
Hazara World
ACT (Afghan Community Turin)
Associazione socio-culturale Nawroz
Coordinamento donne SPI Cgil
WILPF Italia
WWE We WomEngineers
Tavolo migranti Società della Cura
Associazione Giovani Palestinesi
AMAD Associazione Multietnica Antirazzista Donne
CETEC Centro Europeo Teatro e Carcere
Binario 15 –
Dafne, Associazione a tutela della donna e del minore
UNIRE (Unione Nazionale Italiana dei Rifugiati ed Esuli)
Donna immagine Città
Disobbedienza Animale
Gaynet
Lavoro vero
Ife Italia
ICS consorzio italiano di solidarietà
Dun Onlus
Promise
Individuals
Sarah Rahmani
Alessandro Orsetti
To join the campaign, as association or individuals, please write to
Lottiamoperliberta@gmail.com