Women Make Gains, but Still Struggle in Afghanistan

Afghanistan remains a male-dominated society. On a recent religious holiday, men at a local mosque spent the day preparing and serving meals to the poor. There wasn't a woman in sight.

Some women do walk on Kabul's teeming streets. But in the rural areas, where three-quarters of Afghans live, women rarely venture out in public. And those that do are swathed in pale-blue head-to-toe burkas that seem to float down the streets. Behind these scenes, women say, many of them lead lives that are crushingly repressive and painful.

Hidden away down a rabbit warren of twisting dirt paths in Kabul, in a small mud-brick building, these women have come together for support. Many have been mistreated by their husbands or in-laws. But at this program, run by a private group, Women for Women International, they're learning crafts and skills to give them some economic independence and control.

Homa Najibi, 27, is the mother of six. Her mother-in-law abused her, once pouring boiling water on her hands while Homa's husband stood by. Now, after six months of training, she's earning money and respect at home.

HOMA NAJIBI (through translator): I see my future better, because they have trained me to be a more professional tailor and I can make money out of it. I can also train some of my daughters, and we can start a small business.

MARGARET WARNER: But others who have fled forced marriages are still in distress. When 27-year-old Zora Alokazay was 16, her father sold her into marriage to a man from rural Ghazni province. The price: $140.

It was a life of forced farm labor. And after multiple children, she fled back to Kabul. Her husband followed her and made her pregnant again, then left.

ZORA ALOKAZAY (through translator): When I had my baby at two days old, they took that baby to my husband by force.

ZORA ALOKAZAY (through translator): I had to give birth inside the house, and I lost three of my children because they would not take me to the hospital.

MARGARET WARNER: These provincial women, after delivering premature babies at home, were fortunate to be brought to this special hospital for sick children in Kabul to try to save them. But the odds for women are getting worse in the countryside, as the Taliban extends its reach, says Roshanak Wardak, an obstetrician and member of parliament.

ROSHANAK WARDAK, Member of Parliament, Afghanistan: Those parts which are under control of Taliban, women are very much miserable. Their situation is very much miserable. I would like to say this. Our government never pay attention to those ladies.

MARGARET WARNER: And it's not just Taliban influence that confines Afghan women.

ROSHANAK WARDAK: We have our own special culture, and also culture has a limited activity of the woman. For example, a woman cannot -- she is not safe when she is alone. She needs a man. And, also, she doesn't have enough income. She is dependent to the man.

FARZANA SAMIMI, Host, "Banu," Tolo TV (through translator): In Afghanistan, a lot of social problems women cannot share with their very close friends, because from the beginning the woman, especially in Afghanistan, they have been told not to talk about their problems with others. They don't feel confident when they talk with someone, so they hide it.

MARGARET WARNER: At first, reaction to the program was negative. Some women lambasted her for bringing these taboo subjects to light. Samimi says working women like herself are fearful of attack.

FARZANA SAMIMI (through translator): Especially women working for the media, when we are coming to our jobs, there is a little bit of fear, but we still have to just act as brave women.

ROSHANAK WARDAK: The best way is education of both sexes.

MARGARET WARNER: Roshanak Wardak believes change will come for Afghan women only when more Afghan men become enlightened.

ROSHANAK WARDAK: If a woman is very much highly educated, but a man is not educated, it's impossible to recognize her rights, what rights she has. But if a man is educated, man will give her rights by himself.