Many Women Stayed Away From the Polls In Afghanistan

Leah Forchheimer

September 4, 2009

10:18 am

During the last election in Afghanistan, women were waiting in line to vote for who they thought should be elected. Unlike that year, many women were scared away from the polls this year. Why was there such a drastic change in the amount of women voting this year? The number of threats women received scared them away from the polls this election. There were threats of cutting off women’s “ink-dipped fingers” and bombers. Not only were some women afraid to vote in this election, but those women who did want to vote, were not allowed to do so because their husband’s did not think it would be safe enough for their wives. Also, the lack of women working the polls also made women’s husbands not want them to vote because the men did not want their wives in a voting room with another man. So, men left their wife at home and voted for her. Although women not being able to vote for themselves because of threats they have received is bad, men took advantage of this. Women’s IDs do not have their pictures on them so men would take their IDs to the polls and stuff the ballots.

I think that the Afghan women are taking a step back in time. Last year women worked the polls and voted. Yet, this year, many women were forced to stay home. Some men went and voted for their wife, which does not mean that he voted for who she was planning on voting for. Another thing that I did not like was the fact that men were stuffing the ballots because women were too afraid to go vote for them selves. So, not only were women too afraid to vote, but men were taking advantage of their fears.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083002774.html?hpid=topnews