The world has already experienced massive killings and human rights violations, be it in the form of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union or horrifying terrorist activities like the 26/11 Mumbai attack. We can refer to terrorism as the deliberate use of violence to create a general environment of terror in a society in order to achieve a specific political goal. Terrorists carry out dramatic, brutal, and high-profile acts in order to garner and sustain the media attention required to inspire widespread fear. Hijackings, hostage-takings, kidnappings, mass killings, car bombings, and, most notably, suicide bombings have all occurred since mankind has known them to be existent.
Interestingly, the common outcome of every terrorist activity is the violation of human rights, especially for women. We live in a society that, from the beginning of mankind, has perceived women as weak, voiceless, and just "another feather in the hat". From the time when kings used to conquer lands in order to capture the Queen, to the present day, when men prefer marrying women from wealthy families in order to obtain dowry and societal status, women have struggled to gain individual identity and basic rights. Many extreme groups foster an ideology that views women as second-class citizens and benefits from their enslavement on strategic and financial levels.
Maybe this is also the reason women become objects of sexual violence in times of terrorist activities or wars. There are several instances where women and children get stuck between the political agendas of terrorist organizations. Taking up the very recent happenings in Afghanistan, women are being denied their basic rights to wander the streets alone. They are expected to be accompanied by a male relative, or else they’ll be beaten up. Gender-based violence tends to increase during times of crisis, and women are increasingly subjected to domestic violence, abuse, and exploitation. Attacks on schools and villages have grown substantially in recent months, while foreign assistance has gradually dwindled. It is estimated that 1 million youngsters will be denied an education. According to Unicef research, Afghanistan is the "worst place in the world to be born". Afghan children are, in fact, vulnerable to tremendous poverty and violence on a daily basis.
Their predicament is dire: child mortality, hunger, forced marriages, sexual assault. A similar series of events took place there in 2001. According to one Taliban spokesman, women in Afghanistan were forced to wear the burqa in public 24 hours a day because "the face of a woman is a source of corruption" for males who are not related to them. Women were not allowed to work, were not allowed to be educated after the age of eight, and were only allowed to read the Qur'an until then, in a system of systematic segregation known as gender apartheid. Women seeking an education were compelled to attend secret schools where they and their teachers faced execution if they were discovered.
Prior to the Taliban's ascension to power, women in Afghanistan were legally protected and increasingly granted rights in Afghan society. Women gained the right to vote in the 1920s, and the Afghan constitution called for gender equality as early as the 1960s. As the country began to move toward democracy, there was a climate of tolerance and openness. They were making significant contributions to the country's progress. Women made up more than 15% of Afghanistan's highest legislative body in 1977.
Not only during terrorist regimes but such events are commonly witnessed during wars as well. For example, during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the Pakistani army tortured and raped several women. Exact figures are unknown and subject to disagreement. The majority of the women were kidnapped from Dhaka University and private residences and held as sex slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment.
According to the United Nations and International Aid agencies, women are among the worst victims of conflict. Tens of thousands of them are victims of sexual violence, rape, and a lack of access to life-saving medical care. Despite greater local and international awareness and mobilization, women and girls in conflict suffer a range of problems. Women are frequently left out due to a lack of high-level leadership committed to integrating women's rights, especially in Security Council negotiations and peace talks.
Author- Risha Sinha
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