Beyond representation: ensuring progressive voices in Afghanistan

Among Afghan women’s most-celebrated accomplishments in the post-Taliban era is their political participation in the country’s Provincial Councils and Parliament. Partly due to quotas, 28 percent of the Afghan Parliament and over 20 percent of the Provincial Councils are women. But as one parliamentarian proved last week, being a woman does not necessarily make one pro-equality.

While most Afghans condemned the deadly attack on the progressive media organization, Tolo Television, last Wednesday in Afghanistan, Representative Homa Sultani took to social media in celebration.

“I am thankful to God that due to an attack by a martyr (suicide attacker) a number of filthy individuals bred of American adultery have been murdered. May God accept the martyr’s sacrifice and place him in heaven and place the butchered dirty bastards of America and other infidels in the depths of the inferno. Amen,” she wrote in Persian on her Facebook profile.

Shocked, Afghan people did not believe such words could come from one of their representatives, while they were mourning the cold-blooded murder of seven dedicated youth. Perhaps this is why 1 Television reached out to Sultani who confirmed that the Facebook status was indeed posted by herself.

It is surprising that an Afghan woman, whose very right to appear on television or be part of the government would be taken away from her should the Taliban gain power, would make such comments. Sadly, this is not the first time Sultani has stabbed Afghan women in the back. After the brutal mob killing of Farkhunda in March, Sultani was among the few public figures who, without a shred of evidence, wrote on social media that Farkhuda deserved her punishment for destroying the Holy Quran. She was not the only woman to do so. Simin Hasanzada, a high ranking official at the Ministry of Information and Culture, was fired because of a similar comment after an effective campaign by members of the civil society.

The cases of Hasanzada and Sultani are not exceptions. Working in Afghanistan, and sometimes closely with female political leaders, has proven to me more than once that simply having women present at the table does not necessarily mean the rights of Afghan women will be ensured.

There is a prominent law professor at Kabul University who is notorious for his abusive behavior but still widely supported by many female parliamentarians. It is because of their support that despite female students’ claims of sexual abuse and harassment, this professor has maintained his seat for over a decade. The fact that he abuses his female students and has made sexual advances in exchange for higher grades is the least well-kept secret at the university. However his popularity is such that even media organizations do not cover stories of abuse that women have come forward to tell. Being a woman does not necessarily prevent one from endangering other women for one’s own shady political deals.

The snubbing of the first-ever female candidate for the Supreme Court of Afghanistan is another example of how representation does not necessarily lead to meaningful participation. The candidate, introduced to the Parliament by President Ashraf Ghani, was not able to secure a seat in the Supreme Court because she was short nine votes. 23 female parliamentarians were missing that day. Had they showed up to do their jobs, our first woman Supreme Court judge would be sitting on the bench right now.

I know that many misogynists will read this article and argue that the stories above prove that women should not be allowed to govern. But we know for a fact that most Taliban-sympathizers are men and women are not responsible for the majority of the corruption in Afghanistan, as they don’t hold the majority of the power. I don’t hold women to a higher standard of conduct than men, but as a woman, I expect my representatives, who have attained their seats partly because of gender quotas, to actually defend my rights. It is their duty to participate in law-making and change more proactively if we, Afghan women, have risked our lives to vote for them.

Do not misunderstand me. Having a gender quota is absolutely necessary in Afghanistan. Without it, I am not sure we would have many women in the government. It would be even harder to have female representatives from the more conservative areas of the country. In addition, having women in the Parliament and Provincial Councils is a great thing in and of itself. Women in powerful positions serve as role models to the new generation of Afghanistan. But that is not enough.

In addition to having women present, we must work harder to ensure that they fight for our rights. Especially right now, when we fear that our gains will be compromised in troubling “peace talks” with the Taliban. It is more important than ever that we have people on our side and we hold accountable those who gain power because of gender quotas but do not use that power to empower and protect other women.

It is undeniably important to have female representatives, but it is equally important to ensure that they actively promote and defend women’s rights.