Women's Rights Groups Want Long-Term US Afghan Commitment

Women’s rights activists are backing a US troop surge in Afghanistan, while arguing that Afghan women will return to the dark ages, without US long-term support in the country.

Esther Hyneman, a member of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), a rights group advocating for Afghan women in the United States and Afghanistan, told AFP: “We have a moral obligation to continue to follow through for Afghan women who have put themselves at risk over the last eight years.”

Rachel Reid of Human Rights Watch said at her news conference that America must insure that Kabul undertakes “painful political reforms to address the systematic problems Afghanistan has with its culture of impunity.”

Neither peace or national development is possible without the elimination of violence targeting women and girls added Zia Moballegh, acting country director for the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. Read Women’s groups want long-term US presence in Afghanistan via AFP

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