Women in the Afghanistan War

The Afghanistan War happened in response to the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The resulting conflict lasted from 2001 until 2021 and began with an invasion of Afghanistan under an operation named Enduring Freedom. The United States invaded in an attempt to overthrow the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, otherwise known as the Taliban. The United States worked alongside the United Nations to create a new democratic authority in the country so that the Taliban would not be able to return to power. The terrorist organization continued to reform over the years, continuously under a new leader as their power grew throughout the area. The United States continued to send in more troops to fight against the growing power. In 2011, the original leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden was killed in a secret operation that was conducted. At that time, NATO began to look at a slow withdrawal plan from the country. In 2014, security power was given back to the country of Afghanistan, as military forces worked with diplomacy rather than militancy. American troops began to leave and were out of the country by 2021, which is when the Taliban came back into power and reestablished control of the country. 

During the Afghanistan War, many American women went overseas to serve in the different branches of the military, but the largest number of women who were affected by the Afghanistan War were the Afghan women who were living in the country during this conflict. Before the Taliban's rise to power, women in Afghanistan held many forms of freedom and independence. In this country, women were granted the right to vote in 1920 and by the 1960's, had made large strides in accessing equal rights. When the Taliban rose to power, they warped the religion of Islam to make it oppressive and restrictive towards women. Women were reduced to a level of subservience and poverty. Women could no longer go to school or receive an education after the age of eight and limited what access to healthcare they had, making their health decline. Women were also restricted in what clothing they could wear, having to put on coverings such as burqa's, further isolating them from the outside world. Women were relegated to the house, and to shut these women away further, windows had to be painted over to prohibit anyone from being able to look in or out. Women in Afghanistan are suffering many other forms of injustice and discrimination, and activists around the world are working to make it recognized that these women are working against gender apartheid.