Commons Reading Resource Guide - Three Cups of Tea: Women & Girls

Some Muslims hope to create political, economic and educational opportunities for women, while others condemn women's empowerment as anti-Islamic.
A new brand of feminism is taking hold in the Middle East and beyond. It's lead, more often than not, by women.

The U.S. is reexamining its strategy in Afghanistan. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with Mary Akrami, of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, and Orzala Ashraf, an independent human rights activist, about how the role of women in Afghanistan has changed over the past eight years and what potential shifts in U.S. policy could mean for Afghan women.

As the U.S. continues the war in Afghanistan, the Obama administration must decide on its new military strategy. One group that is often largely overlooked when considering Afghan policy is the women who live in the region. Host Michel Martin talks with Ann Jones, writer of the recent article for The Nation "Remember the Women?," and Shamim Jawad, who leads the Afghan children's advocacy group The Ayenda Association, about the role of the war in the lives of the country's children.

Seeking to escape cultural oppression and economic hardship, an alarming number of Afghan women are taking their own lives. The trend has prompted a bill aimed at ending such practices as forced marriages.

In Pakistan, wealthy women have been returning to Islam and finding comfort in Al Huda, a new network of religious schools. The students insist the faith they are studying is peaceful and tolerant. But critics hear echoes of Taliban ideology in what the schools preach.

Much of the U.S. focus in Pakistan has been on the lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border where Taliban fighters are based. But Pakistan's problems extend much farther. The Pakistani government has failed to deliver services across much of the country. It has neglected education and health care, resulting in a segment of the population that is ill-trained, illiterate and angry.

Ziauddin Yusefzai ignored the Taliban's death threats when they took over his city in Pakistan's Swat Valley. He marched against the militants and for as long as he could, kept running his school for girls. He is now celebrating because the Taliban is out of the city and his girls are returning to school.

A non-profit organization providing support to widows in Afghanistan who have been afflicted by war, terrorism, and oppression. Beyond Belief, a documentary about the organizations' founders, is available at the Central Library.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in Afghanistan through community-based education. The site contains resources, factsheets, videos and other materials that focus on the their work educating the women & girls of Afghanistan.

RAWA was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as an independent political/ social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and social justice in Afghanistan.

The Roshni Centre for Women encourages economic and educational opportunities fir women living in the rural Northern part of Pakistan.

Resources include fact sheets by province, Newsline, and statistics, as well as the publication Rebuilding Hope in Afghanistan.

Resources include background information, statistics, and Newsline.

Links to UN commissions and programs for the advancement of women.

Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.
A 2009 country report, photo gallery, video gallery, field updates, and stories from women are all available for Afghanistan.

The author discusses the position of Afghan women in light of the U.S. debate over the escalation of the war in that country. The central focus of the article is an examination of the argument that an American withdrawal will lead to a resurgent Taliban and thus a return to the oppression of women. Among other issues the article notes that the U.S.-backed government of president Hamid Karzai has not improved conditions for women in Afghanistan.

Women's Rights in Afghanistan. This 96-page report details emblematic cases of ongoing rights violations in five areas: attacks on women in public life; violence against women; child and forced marriage; access to justice; and girls' access to secondary education.

Central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programs, specialized agencies, and academic and research institutions.

The Pakistani Constitution extends protection to an impressive catalog of fundamental rights, placing Pakistan in line with some of the most western-minded constitutional regimes in the world. At the same time, in contrast to the American-style constitutional commitment to separate church and state, the Pakistani regime is constitutionally committed to integrate the two, in the sense that all laws must conform to the injunctions of Islam as a condition of their constitutional validity.