Abstract
- Introduction
The focus of this paper is gender inequality in the workplace of Afghanistan. At present, less than half of working age women is employed. Those who work have lower wages than men and they are constantly under the threat of harassment and rape. There are cultural, political, and socio-economic factors that contribute to the current conditions in the country’s labor force. The system of patriarchy is the primary cultural deterrent to the women’s successful participation in the workplace. The lack of policies that safeguard women’s rights in the workplace is the political limitation in the existing market. The socioeconomic factors include lack of skills, capital, and opportunities of the female population in the country. These different factors are discussed in the second section of the paper which presents the social justice issue. In the third section, education opportunities currently provided to school-aged girl children are described.
Education is considered an effective strategy to address the widening gender inequality in the workplace. Education is indeed a powerful strategy; however, in consideration of the systemic gender inequality that pervades the Afghan society, this researcher proposes that a coed schooling system be provided as an alternative strategy. Such strategy addresses the cultural aspect of gender inequality and in the fourth section of the paper; the reasons supporting such alternative system are detailed. The final section concludes the paper and ties together the important points. Each of the succeeding sections, therefore, provide supporting arguments to the thesis that Coed schooling is an opportunity for male and female workers to develop gender sensitive attitudes that would contribute to a more favorable working environment for women participants in Afghanistan’s labor force.
- Social Justice Issue
Gender inequality in the workplace is a social justice issue that this paper focuses on, and Afghanistan is the country selected for the study. Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic located in South Asia with an estimated 2014 population of 31,822,848 inhabitants (CIA). Its main ethnic groups are the Pashtun (42%) and the Tajik (27%). Islam is the religion of the majority of the population with 80% Sunni Muslims and 19% Shia Muslims.
Gender equality “refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys” (UN). The absence or disparity of such equal rights and opportunities translates to gender inequality. The United Nations Development Programme prepares a human inequality index and ranks the 186 countries in the world using three core dimensions. These are health, empowerment, and labor market. In terms of gender inequality, Afghanistan ranks 147th out of 186 countries. There are two indicators of empowerment: female and male population with at least secondary education; and female and male shares of parliamentary seats. There is a wide disparity between the male and female population in Afghanistan when it comes to education. Only 5.8% of the females of ages 25 years old and higher have reached at least secondary education. In contrast, for the same age bracket, 34% of the male population has reached at least secondary education (UNDP 158). These data were for the years from 2006-2010. When it comes to the other empowerment indicator (seats in Parliament), 27.6% of seats in the national parliament were occupied by women (UNDP 158).
The participation of both men and women in the nation’s economic activities is crucial for a country’s development. Afghanistan’s economy is recovering, however, due to its long history of conflict, it remains a poor country. It has a very high unemployment rate of 35% (CIA). In 2011, the labor participation rate of women was only 15.7% while men captured 80.3% of the labor market (UNDP 158). This figure clearly indicates the existence of a gender inequality in Afghanistan’s labor force. The number of women employed in the military and judicial offices is very small. Less than one percent of the total number of personnel in the military is women and less than five percent of judges are women. In 2007, there was a slight increase in the number of policewomen, from 164 to 275 (CNN).
The present day gender inequality in the workplace of Afghanistan is a result of cultural, political, and socioeconomic factors. Patriarchy, lack of policies, and poverty all contribute to the wide disparity in the labor participation of men and women. These factors are further discussed in the succeeding sections.
- Cultural factors
Patriarchy is a system that” treats women as second-class objects and subservient to male domination” (Moradian). This system is deeply embedded in the Afghan culture. In the 18th century, Pashtun tribal groups grouped together to form what is now present day Afghanistan. Their patrilineal system as well as their nomadic pastoralism finds its way to the present patriarchal system of the Afghan society. In the Afghan culture, the male controls the households, and women’s value is highly attached to their reproductive role. Both women and children are considered the property of the male and a “strict sexual division of labor assigns to women the role of producer of carpet and reproducer of children” (Moghadam 451). Since women are considered a man’s property, it is a practice in the society to demand a bride price for daughters who marry. In the 1970s, young men would travel in search for inexpensive brides while the fathers would also be actively seeking for persons who can give a higher price (Moghadam 452). Forced marriages and bride price still exist until today. Such traditions limit female labor participation and contribute to the lower school participation in the higher grades in school. Daughters are married off before they even become young adults.
- Political factors
The present day Afghan society has gone through a series of wars and conflicts which had resulted in the degradation of the women’s status in society, particularly during the reign of the Taliban. However, historical records show that, before the Taliban’s control of the country, there have been political efforts to address the negative effects of Afghan cultural practices. In the 1990s, the women held positions as teachers, doctors, and government workers. Some of the leaders who initiated reforms for the female population are Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, his grandson Emir Amanullah Khan , Prime Minister Daud Khan, and the PDPA. The details of their efforts are enumerated below.
- Emir Abdur Rahman Khan. Policies favorable to women were implemented by the government of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan when he was the country’s leader from 1880 to 1901. Women were allowed to inherit property, a higher minimum age for brides was imposed, and women could apply for divorce. Although most of these policies only covered the capital, these actions indicated that the country had leaders who considered women’s rights too. Khan was also supportive of girl’s education, and he did not approve of polygamy (Lemmon 16).
- Emir Amanullah Khan. He ruled from 1919 to 1929 and as his grandfather (Abdur Rahman Khan), Emir Amanullah Khan also supported women’s rights. He believed that the free will of an individual does not have to be controlled by tribal customs. For him, religion “does not require women to veil their hands, feet, faces or enjoin any special type of veil” (Lemmon 17). This leader also supported equal opportunities of both sexes. His major contribution was the Constitution of Afghanistan that prescribed the people’s civil liberties.
- Prime Minister Daud Khan. He held the office from 1953 to 1963. He also did not favor compulsory veiling. In the Constitution of 1964, Article 25 explicitly said that all people of Afghanistan have “equal rights and obligations before the law” Lemmon (17).
- People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). The most notable legislation issued by this government was “Decree No. 7” which called for “equal rights of women with men in the field of civil law,” opposed “child marriage” and declared that girls can only get married when they reach 16 years old and boys when they reach the age of 18. The amount for a dowry was also decreased (Lemmon 18).
The gains of the above-mentioned leaders in women’s rights were reversed with the entry of the Taliban in 1996. During their rule, women were banned from the workplace, girl children were not allowed to attend school, and women were required to wear a full body covering or the burqa (Lemmon 18). Those who did not follow were severely punished, and public beating of women was a common occurrence.
- Socio-economic factors
Poverty and honor affect women’s participation in the workplace. During the years under the Taliban, the female population was further dehumanized. They were not allowed to go to school; they had to fully cover themselves when they go out in public, and they faced problems of security in their workplace. The lack of policies that safeguard women’s rights in the workplace is the political limitation in the existing market. The socioeconomic factors include lack of skills, capital, and opportunities of the female population in the country. These contributed to the prevailing gender inequality in the country at those times.
- Impact to the women’s status
Changes in the cultural, political, and socio-economic situation of Afghanistan will result in diminishing the gender inequality in the workplace. A systemic change is needed because inequality is deeply ingrained in the people’s lives. Lessening inequality would improve women’s status because the female population would be allowed to stay in school and participate in the country’s labor force. Implementing mechanisms that effectively address gender inequality would result to more opportunities for women to improve their lives.
- Existing Strategy
Education has been a strategy that has been effective in addressing the issue of gender inequality. There are now 10 million students in school, and 40% of this figure is comprised of female students (Dunne). During the Taliban rule, there were almost no female students in school because the Taliban forbade girl-children to attend school. However, at that time there were underground schools that were set up by female teachers to educate girl children. Many families value education that they risk the lives of their daughters just to make them educated. The education of women gives them the capacity not only to be employed, but also to become entrepreneurs and set up small to medium-scale businesses.
The increased access to education has resulted in more women attaining or practicing their professions. In the aspect of healthcare, for example, the 2002 figure of less than 500 midwives have grown to 2,500 midwives ten years later (Lemmon 19). The establishment of more midwifery schools in the country translated to the availability of medical staff that can provide necessary medical care to the women, especially those in need of prenatal care. Ten years ago, one of Afghanistan’s provinces had the highest maternal mortality in the world, but this has been substantially lowered in the present. In the past women could not access medical care because social norms dictate that only female doctors can see women patients, and the decision of whether a woman sees a doctor also lies on the male in the household (Asia Society).
- Alternative Proposal
This researcher proposes Coed schooling as an alternative strategy. Since Afghanistan strictly upholds gender segregation as a matter of religious belief, and that the reason for the segregation is to prevent men and women to engage in “lustful acts” this researcher recommends that the coed schooling strategy be implemented in the primary grades. During the period when male and female students reach the adolescence years, then they are given the option to continue in a mixed classroom or to opt for the separate classrooms.
The coed schooling at the primary grades is an improved strategy because it highlights the impact of having a mixed gender educational system. The existing strategy of educating female students gives girl children knowledge and trains them so that they become literate and productive. Coed schooling goes beyond the knowledge acquisition objective because it targets the development of positive attitudes towards the female population. Once culturally embedded patriarchal beliefs are difficult to unlearn; thus, it is important to begin educating the Afghan society about gender equality at a young age. The results of this strategy may not be immediately apparent in the next few years, however, it is expected that when children grow up with positive gender values there will be less harassment of women in the workplace, and women would not be made to believe that they deserve unequal treatment.
There are scientific studies that prove coed schooling is beneficial. Although these are conducted in non-Muslim societies, the research findings are nonetheless applicable to different contexts. Coed schooling provides a venue for men and women to learn how to interact with each other from a young age. The practice of “ segregating students by gender — be it via entire schools or simply classrooms — can lead to greater gender discrimination and make it harder for students to deal with the other sex later in life” (Novotney 58). The demands of work, such as decision-making and correcting co-workers, may not be handled well by opposite genders because of the lack of experience in interacting with the opposite sex.
It is in the childhood years that the gender views are developed and acquired. As children undergo social and cognitive development, they are also establishing their gender schema. “Cognitions and environmental pressures work together to influence the stereotype, the gender role identity, and the adoption of gender-role identity” (Castillo and Cecilia 240). Coeducation is a strategy that can “eliminate traditional gender roles” (243) and can “foster co-existence in equality” (243). The ways by which activities are handled, for example, doing away with asking students to form separate lines for boys and lines for girls, contribute to the changing prevailing mentality that boys and girls should be segregated. A scientific study conducted by Halpern and colleagues emphasized that “no evidence from brain research” supports differences between boys and girls, and there is “little evidence” supporting claims that single-sex classes have academic advantages (1706). This same study maintains that” there is evidence that sex segregation increases gender stereotyping and legitimizes institutional sexism” (Halpern et al. 1706). These results, published in the highly respected scientific journal Science, strengthens this researcher’s recommendation to implement coed schooling in order to change the current perceptions of the members of the Afghan society.
The effects of this proposal can be measured in at least two ways. The first is through a survey that would focus on participants’ perceptions about women and gender-related policies and situation. The participants would be teenagers who have gone through the coed schooling in their primary grades. The control group would be necessary to provide a comparison, and the same questionnaire may be administered to teenagers who attended single-sex classrooms. Since this kind of survey is feasible only after a certain number of years (when children have gone through several years of schooling), the second way to measure the effects of the proposal would be an observation of children as they perform specific tasks in the classroom. It would be necessary to observe another group of children who attend same-sex schools so that the differences can be identified.
- Conclusions
Afghanistan is a patriarchal society with deeply embedded cultural practices contributing to its very wide gender inequality. In 2013, the country ranked 145th among 186 countries in the UN gender inequality index. Among the areas considered in this inequality index was female participation in politics and the labor market, maternal mortality rates, and literacy rate of women. The existing strategy that addresses gender inequality is education. There have been gains in education in the past decade after the Taliban’s were ousted from government. The gains in education also benefits women’s health as there are more female midwives produced by the increasing number of midwifery schools. This researcher recommends an alternative strategy in the form of coed schooling. Research studies have provided evidence that there is no scientific proof to the claim of differences in the brains of girls and boys and that same-sex schools do not necessarily lead to better academic performance. In fact, the scientific evidence points to same-sex schools contributing to gender stereotyping. As the social and cognitive development of children begin in childhood, it is best to expose children to coed schooling for them to develop gender-sensitive attitudes that would help them later in life as they interact with the opposite sex. The improvement of gender perspectives among children is expected to decrease the existing gender inequality in Afghanistan.
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