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By Beheshta Jaehori B.Sc. (Hon.), University of Toronto, 2001 A

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By Beheshta Jaehori B.Sc. (Hon.), University of Toronto, 2001 A AFGHAN WOME,N'S EXPERIENCESDURNG THE TALIBAN REGIME by BeheshtaJaehori B.Sc.(Hon.), University of Toronto,2001 A THESISSUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FORTHE DEGREEOF MASTEROF ARTS in The Facultyof GraduateStudies (CounsellingPsychology) THE LINIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLLMBIA (Vancouver) August,2009 @ BeheshtaJaghori, 2009 Abstract A plethoraof researchhas depictedAfghan women during the Talibanreign in a varietyof ways,ranging from oppressed"victims of the burqa" to heroic "social actors." In this study, I examinedthe lived experiencesof women in Afghanistanunder the Talibanregime, as articulatedby ordinarywomen themselves.Data from 11 women were gatheredthrough the use of individual interviews,and analyzedusing Miles and Hubermans'(1994) analytic framework. Themes emerged that describedthe Taliban regime'spolicies regarding Afghan women,the overallresponses of women to the policies,including the impactof thosepolicies at the time (1996-2001),the ongoing impact,and the situationof women in the post-Talibanera. The Talibanregime's anti-women policies denied women education,employment, and freedomof movement.Those who committedany infractionswere met with severe punishment.The impact of thesepolicies led to variouspsychological effects, including: anxiety,fear, and synptoms of depressionand posttraumatic stress. Despite the condemnablerestrictions, Afghan women's agency,no matterhow limited, was present andcontinuously exercised on differentoccasions. Despite the gainsfor somewomen, eightyears after the removalof the Talibanregime, Afghan women still do not appearto havemade substantive progress with regardto oppressivecustoms, violence, and their positionin Afghan society.The studyresults and their analysisis especiallytimely, given the increasingTaliban insurgencyin Afghanistan,and the looming possibility of a resurrectedTaliban rule in the countrv. 111 Table of Contents Abstract .........ii Tableof Contents.. ....iii Acknowledgments.... ......viii ChapterOne: Introduction. .........1 Situatingthe Researcher .....2 Summary..... .....4 ChapterTwo: LiteratureReview .....5 Backgroundon Afghanistan. ......5 Taliban .....7 Genesisand rise to power ........1 Pakistan'thearchitect' ............7 Pashtunsympathies... ........8 Powerand control .. ..........8 Makingwomen disappear...... ......9 An endto healthcare .......10 Coverlmedical survey ..........11 Mentalhealth crisis ......12 Women'scoping strategies and resilience..... ....18 Afghanistan:Post-Taliban ....23 Insurgency... ...23 Insecurity.... ......24 IV Womenand girls ....24 Summary..... ....25 ChapterThree: Method ...27 QualitativeResearch Paradigm ..........27 FeministApproach to the Research ...28 Marginalizationas a GuidingConcept ....29 lnterviews..... .......30 Participants.. ..........33 DataAnalysis .......35 CodingCollected Data. ........36 EnsuringTrustworthiness of Data ....38 TheProcess of Reflexivity... ......40 ChapterFour: Findings .....41 Demographics .......43 EmergingThemes ..... ...46 Taliban'spolicies regarding Afghan women..... .......46 Denialof education. ......46 Imposotionof strictdress code ....47 Banon work ,.....50 Restrictionson mobility .......50 Accessto healthcare ......52 Forcedprayers ........52 Privatesphere. ..........53 V Punishments. ...54 Discriminationbased on ethnicity.. .....56 Degreesof suffering. ....57 Impactof Taliban'sPolicies on AfghanWomen ..........59 Psychologicalimpact .....5 9 Long-termeffects. ...........61 Positiveinfluence..... .......61 Copingand resistance ....62 Divertingactivities... .......64 Genderdifferences in coping ........64 DiversityAmongst Taliban.... ....65 Post-Taliban .........66 ChapterFive: Discussion... ...........70 Fit with ExistingLiterature..... .........71 Implicationsfor Practice.. ....75 Directionsfbr FutureResearch ..........77 Limitations... ..........79 References.... ....82 Appendices. ........90 A: InterviewQuestions .......90 B: InterviewGuide..... .......91 C: InformedConsent Form .......94 D: List of MulticulturalSupport and Counselling Resources ... .........96 Vi E: RecruitmentLetter to PotentialParticipants ......97 F: TelephoneQuestions..... .........99 G: DemographicInformation . 100 H: Sampleof TalibanDecrees Related to Women... ..I 0 1 I: ResearchEthics Certificate . 103 vii List of Tables Table1: Themesof theFindings ..........42 Table2: DemographicInformation . .-.45 vlll Acknowledgments I would like to expressmy heartfeltgratitude to the courageousand selfless womenwho generouslygave their time to answermy questionsand sharedtheir stories. Without their candorand insight,this researchendeavour would not havebeen possible. am gratefulto my supervisor,Dr. Norm Amundson and my thesiscommittee members, Dr. Marla Buchanan,Dr. Rod McCormick, andDr. Marv Westwood.Their supportand guidancewas invaluablethroughout the researchprocess. Thank you Dr. Amundson for your enthusiasmand encouragement,and for being a constantsource of support.Many thanksto Dr. Buchananfor her methodologicalexpertise and critical eye,which helped steerme in the right direction.Thank you to Drs. McCormick and Westwoodfor their insightand expertisein multiculturalcounselling. I would be remissif I did not thankmy family and friends.I am especially gratefulto my motherwhose love and supportknows no bounds.It is clearthat I could not have reachedthis far without her. My heartfeltthanks go to my dear friend, Hajera Rostam,who has alwaysbeen a pillar of emotionaland academicsupport. Last but certainlynot least,I wish to thank Djawid Taherifor his excellenteditorial skills, but most importantly,for his love, which sustainedmy effort to seethis work throughto completion. Chapter One: Introduction My project is not to entertainreaders wih one more exotic tale, or shockthem with anotherastounding revelation about womanhoodin afaraway place. All I wish to do is to communicateanother mode of being female. But this is more easilysaid than done. Marnia Lazers. In this introductory paragraph,Lazregwrites about the challengesof writing as an Algenanwoman aboutwomen in Algeria (Lazreg,1994, p.6). The task of a native informant is indeedgrave, and one that I have struggledwith from the moment I embarkedon this study of Afghan women. ShahnazKhan definesthe role of the native informantas "a personwho informs or explainsthe rituals or traditionsof her peoplefor the researcher,the explorer,the outsider."(Khan, 2006,p. 16).My apprehensionstems from the fact that traditionally, the work of native informantshave been usedto reinforce the stereotypesof third-world women, andparticularly Muslim women (Khan, 2006).A numberof scholars(Khan 2006;Zine,2002)have began to critically analyzetherole of the nativeinformant in the processof knowledgeproduction. As such,I endeavourto continuethis traditionof "reconfiguringthe nativeinformant's role by making visible and challengingthe power relationsthat sustainit," and further,I especiallywould striveto "challengethe notion of neutralknowledge and help to generatesome accountability in the processof writing and its reading."(Khan 2006,p. 17). Afghan women during the Taliban erahavebeen depictedin a variety of ways rangingfrom oppressed"victims of the burqa" (Armstrong,1997; Goodwin, 1998; Halbfinger, 2002; Mann,1998; Schulz, & Schulz, 1999)to heroic "social actors" (Moghadam,1994;Rostami-Povey, 2003). The unidimensionalconstruction of Afghan women asbeing in needof liberationthrough the castingoff of their veils and the L adoptionof Western,secular sensibilities is a paternalmode of imperialistfeminism that deniesthese women the agencyand political maturity to act as subjectsof changeon their own terms(4ine,2002). Eachof thesecompeting discourses denies Afghan women the agencyand political maturity to define their own senseof identity and to tell their own stories.The voicesof Afghan women havebeen largely absentfrom the mainstream mediacoverage as well as scholarlyliterature covering the lives of Afghan women under the Talibanregime. Similarly, their uniqueneeds and challengesas well asresiliency and copinghave been largely unacknowledged.This led me to dedicatemy Master'sthesis to explorethe following questions: How did Afghan womennow living in urban centresin Canadaand the United States,experience tife during the Taliban regime? How were they affectedby the Talibanregime? How did theyrespond to their experiences? The abovequestions were researchedthrough in-depth interviews situatedwithin a qualitativeresearch paradigm. The philosophicalunderpinnings of an antiracistfeminist frameworkprovided guidancein conductingthis study.These include placing importance on themessuch as "social process,""participatory," "collaborative," "emancipatory," "help[ing] individualsfree themselves from constraintsfound in the media,in language, in work procedures,and in relationshipsof power in educationalsettings," and finally maintaininga "reflexive or dialectical"attitude (Kimmis & Wilkinson, 1998,as citedin Creswell,2005, p. 556). Situatingthe Researcher I was born in Afghanistan.At 9 yearsof age,I was forced to flee the country with my family, which involved the lossof varioussources of validationfor all of us, including, 3 my extendedfamily, relativesand friends,almost all of our possessions,and the house wherewe all had sharedmany meaningfulmemories. We were to join approximately3 million Afghan refugeesin the borderingcountry of Pakistan.Soon our lives were permeatedby uprootedness,culture shock, trauma, discrimination and an urgentneed to survive and learn new things. My family
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