Afghan women's tea

Statistics would seem to back us up. Domestic violence is rife with over 75 percent of Afghan women saying they were victims of it. Every year on November 25^th, the United Nations raises awareness of this global plight on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, although it's not the worst place.

So, if Afghan women don't want what we want, what do Afghan women want? With the family as the most reliable institution when governments have come and gone, most women want to be good wives and mothers, good Muslims and good Afghans. The reality is that most Afghan women spend time in the home, and not in the public sphere.

Sharif suggests promoting education and health. "Afghan women would be much happier to see that her husband or father supports an education for her versus the right to go back to mini skirts."

Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries on earth, with huge health challenges, a very low literacy rate and food insecurity. Teaching women in the mountains about computers and hoping for them to fight for empowerment and their rights is great, but is it realistic? For women, and men, worrying about whether they will eat, whether the water their children drink is clean, whether they can afford medicine next time a family member is sick or wondering whether they will have work and a roof over their heads, rights may seem like a distant luxury.

After millions of dollars and a decade of good intentions most women still face many of the same fundamental problems they faced a decade ago. In our rush to change we went for a glamorous make over and forgot that the people we were dealing with had barely had their blindfolds removed but that their hands and feet were still tied by poverty, culture and countless other inhibiting factors which take generations to change.