JAMILA MUJAHED, GRÜNDERIN UND CHEFREDAKTEURIN DES FRAUENMAGAZINS "MALALAI", AFGHANISTAN
Accepting award for work in women’s rights
1)
Afghanistan has one of the most conservative societies in the world. As a male-dominated and traditional society, there exist many problems for women in this country. According to existing customs, human rights and rights in general are not equal for men and women. Due to the narrow vision of some men, women have no right to work, receive an education or take part in the political, social, cultural and economic affairs of the country.
The strong restrictions and huge problems facing Afghan women have resulted in wide-spread ignorance among those same women. They don’t know their rights, they don’t un-derstand their rights, and as a result, they cannot practice their rights. Even educated women are barely able to actively participate in Afghanistan’s political, social and cultural affairs.
The country has also suffered from long term violence. The war against the Soviet invasion, followed by civil war in the early 1990s, devastated the whole country and severely affected women. Many women were kidnapped, raped, and killed. Commanders forced families to surrender their daughters in return for money.
The appearance of the Taliban regime expanded the scope of violence and repression in Afghan society, creating many new obstacles for women.
With their hardline interpretation of Islam, the Taliban deprived women from even their limited rights. Women were not allowed to leave their homes without burkas (chadors), and had to be escorted by a male relative if they left. Women were forbidden from being educated or working outside their homes.
Despite this tyranny, Afghanistan was almost forgotten by the international community. But the events on September 11th focused the attention of the world on Afghanistan, and the in-ternational community recognized that unless they helped Afghanistan overcome terrorism and oppression, they, too, would be in danger. As an Afghan poet put it: “If an organ in the body suffers pain, other organs suffer the same pain.”
As a result of September 11th, US-led forces entered Afghanistan and drove the Taliban re-gime from the country. The fall of the Taliban was a turning point in Afghan history.
In Afghanistan today, women in some of the bigger cities have gained freedom comparable to men. Women are able to help shape the political, social, and cultural issues of Afghanistan. Women are able to prove their worth as full members of society.
At the Loya Jirga – Afghanistan’s traditional leadership council, which convened to discuss the future government of Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban – Afghan women bravely joined the conference and pushed to improve their rights. One of the major achievements of women at the Loya Jirga was to insert the phrase “men and women” rather than “Afghan citizens” in referring to various rights, since in the past, women were not widely considered to be citizens. At the Loya Jirga, it was clear that Afghan women would no longer accept inferior status to men.
Women have also stood up to warlords, publicly condemning them for their past violence against women. Malalai Joya, a delegate from the Loya Jirga, vocally objected to the pres-ence of warlords in the conference hall and asked for their ejection. Her speech made her a popular figure both inside Afghanistan and in front of the world.
The recent Presidential election was another significant step for women’s rights in Afghani-stan. Around 41.3 percent of women registered to cast their votes, and the results show that women have awoken to take their rightful place alongside men in determining their future. For the first time in Afghanistan’s history, women across the country mobilized for a common cause.
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The mission of Malalai has always been much greater than simple journalism, and its mission is to promote women’s rights – a mission that is far from over. Even though women’s conditions have improved in Kabul and other big cities like Herat, Ningarhar, Kandahar, and Mazar-e Sharif, women outside of the major urban centers live a very different life, one that is not much different than that they endured in Taliban times.
In many rural areas, women are still not allowed to work, receive education, decide family issues, or even make choices about their personal lives. Violence against women is common in such areas. Women are still beaten by their husbands and families. Kidnapping and rape of young girls is still commonplace.
In such areas, fathers still force their daughters into marriage. Refusal to obey a father’s orders is considered shameful, and cannot be opposed. Most girls don’t even have the op-portunity to meet their husbands before their wedding day. Such marriages often have no happy ending, and some women prefer to flee from their husbands’ houses. But the pun-ishment for fleeing is strong, and for some women, suicide is the only solution. According to Human Rights Watch, some 300 suspected cases of women self-immolating themselves were reported in Herat last year. Of those 300, about 80 percent eventually died.
Women in rural areas also suffer from a tribal tradition called “bad.” According to this tradi-tion, when a man is killed by another man, community elders call a meeting to try to resolve the enmity between their two families. The elders often order the murderer’s family to offer one of the young girls in their family as a bride for the victim’s relatives. The poor girls, who had nothing to do with the murder, are thrown into the hands of the victim’s family. You can imagine what happens to these young women next.
Against this harsh backdrop, the monthly magazine Malalai took its place in Afghan media. The magazine itself was able to be printed as a result of the comparatively free media at-mosphere in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Despite many problems, the first issue of Malalai was published in February 2002.
Our aim was to use Malalai as a bridge between women. Although many women in Afghani-stan cannot read, those who are educated need to be encouraged. Malalai has also tried to establish ties between different groups of women.
The team at Malalai magazine understood the needs of women in this society and felt a re-sponsibility to help all women to both improve their lives and participate in the governance of their society. The media provides a strong link between different people, and was a power-ful tool for the empowerment of women.
We considered print media as a strong and effective tool to achieve our goals. Hence Malalai magazine – the first women’s magazine to be published after the Taliban – was launched with help from the Aina Afghan Media and Culture Center.
Today, Malalai occupies a large place among the independent media in Afghanistan. From Kabul to Kandahar, Herat to Mazar-e Sharif, Malalai actively participates in the return of Af-ghan women to the forefront of the political and cultural scene. Through Malalai, we appeal to Afghans who are already in positions of power to promote and empower all Afghan women.
Malalai is the only magazine strongly committed to the cause of women’s empowerment. This singular concept has produced an efficient editorial line and a comprehensive visual identity. Malalai is a political publication in the best sense of the term – it is dedicated, brave, and outspoken, with strong convictions and a sense of mission: the defense of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Malalai played a vital role in encouraging women to participate in the constitutional Loya Jirga as well as in the first free and independent presidential election. The UN appreciated the role of Malalai, and chose it to be one of their platforms by which to inform women about the elections.
In addition to political articles, Malalai has also worked towards educating Afghan women on several issues, including: health and nutrition; pregnancy, birth, and maternity; children’s education; and bureaucratic difficulties faced by women. The magazine is a guide for women’s daily life.
Malalai acts as a network for women, unites organizations dedicated to women’s rights, and serves as a rallying point for Afghan women to raise their voices. As the magazine targets a large audience, Malalai also offers more than just political content, including stories of hope and accomplishment, cartoons, puzzles, and even beauty advice. This lighter side of Malalai will be strengthened in the future so that it becomes more of comprehensive, attractive, modern, and yet uniquely Afghan. Even such features and entertainment can have a strong social impact on empowering and liberating Afghan women.
Malalai now includes a section where young people personally introduce themselves and explain what they expected of the person they would marry. It has been a huge success amongst readers, not only for its interactivity – since readers can reply to the announcements through the magazine address – but also because it functions as a window to the hopes, wishes and lives of young people, especially women who dreamed of choosing their life part-ner.
Malalai is well on its way to attaining sustainability and self-sufficiency on all fronts: editorial, commercial and financial. In order to be efficient as tool of democracy, independent maga-zines anywhere in the world need to ensure their professional and financial sustainability, especially through advertising and sales revenues. Overall, Malalai stands as a leading magazine targeting a well-defined market segment. Malalai positions itself for a readership of educated Afghan women who are willing and eager to be engaged in their society, and who can afford to pay its current price. This focus can ensure both its long-term sustainability and its maximum impact in Afghan society.
As a magazine targeting educated women in Afghanistan, Malalai can attract much more attention from potential advertisers, especially from international organizations – for job an-nouncements, seminars, awareness and educational campaign, and other reasons. Malalai also attracts attention from consumer companies breaking into the Afghan market, since they will be eager to target a professional female audience.
Malalai will act as an intermediary in order to maximize its positive impact on gender issues in Afghan society. The magazine aims at empowering educated, working professional women because they are, or will be, in a position to empower all Afghan women. Intermediaries are crucial to Afghanistan’s development. If we can pass our message to one segment of society, that segment can then pass the message to a wider audience – in this case, the less educated and illiterate public. Malalai is here to support and strengthen this intermediate level of Afghan women – tens of thousands of them, spread around the country – who will feel empowered by our message and spread it to all Afghan women.
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None of our success would have been possible without the international friends that have so generously supported Malalai during the past three years.
The Heinrich Boll Foundation and other German friends have made valuable contributions to our cause in our time of need. I am in your deepest debt.
In addition, I would like to give special thanks to the Palm-Prize-Foundation and other friends who made if possible for me to travel here to accept this award on behalf of the Malalai staff.
4)
In conclusion, I have to say that although Malalai has been moving towards self-sustainability in Afghanistan, we have a long road ahead. Your help has gotten us this far. We will need further help if we are to reach our goals. The women of Afghanistan are counting on all of us.
I thank you all.
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Übersetzung der Dankesworte
1)
Afghanistan ist von einer der konservativsten Gesellschaftsformen der Welt geprägt. In dieser traditionellen und von Männern dominierten Gesellschaft gibt es viele Probleme für Frauen. Den gängigen Bräuchen nach gelten Menschenrechte und Rechte generell nicht gleichermaßen für Männer und Frauen. Aufgrund der engen Sichtweise einiger Männer haben Frauen nicht das Recht zu arbeiten, eine Ausbildung zu erhalten, oder am politischen, sozialen, kulturellen und wirtschaftlichen Leben des Landes teilzuhaben.
