Curtailed Rights, Lost Dignity: The Struggle of Afghan Women

Nelofer Pazira

In the recent past, the rights, integrity, and security of Afghan women have become topics of global concern. However, there’s been little discussion about the historical conditions which shaped the prevailing views of women in Afghanistan, nor about the struggle of Afghan women for equality throughout the country’s modern history. Has there ever been a women’s movement in Afghanistan? What strategies have Afghan women used in their fight against oppression? To what extent have Afghan women been caught between the opposing forces of modernization and radical tribal conservatism? How does the current political climate in the country affect women’s lives? Nelofer Pazira addressed all these issues in her 2004 Powell Lecture.

Nelofer Pazira was born in India to an Afghan professional family and settled in Canada in 1990. She starred in the movie Kandahar (2001), and, after the fall of the Taliban regime, co-produced the CBC documentary Return to Kandahar (2003). Both were based on her real-life experiences.