The plight of Afghan women

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's recent visit to the United States was in the news, but stories about the reality of life for Afghan women have been missing. Through my support of MADRE (www.madre.org), I recently heard the story of Wahida, an Afghan woman who was only 13 when her family sold her into marriage to a man more than three times her age.

For nearly 20 years, she suffered terrible physical abuse. Then, when her husband accused her of infidelity, she was thrown in prison by a court system that sees women as less than full human beings.

She was granted a pardon only after four years. After her release from prison, she found relief in a women's shelter supported in part by MADRE's Afghan Women's Survival Fund.

This is the type of story we must remember - of courageous Afghan women demanding their rights. As Afghan people work to build their future, it will depend on the bravery of women like Wahida and the support we in the United States can extend to them.

Source: The Press of Atlantic City, July 18, 2010