The Systematic Violation of Women’s Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan and its correlation with US Foreign Policy

Abstract

Throughout history, women have faced discrimination and inequality in various areas of life, including education, employment, politics, and social norms. The struggle for gender equality and recognition of women’s rights has a long and ongoing history, and despite the significant progress in the fight for women’s rights, gender inequality still exists in various forms. Women continue to face discrimination and violations of their rights, remaining a critical issue worldwide, especially in certain countries. “Islamic Republic of Iranian woman dies ‘after being beaten by morality police’ over hijab law1” “Afghanistan: Taliban ban women from universities amid condemnation”.2 Those are some of the abundant headlines the international public opinion has been reading throughout the recent years; making them to acknowledge how Iranian and Afghan women have been losing their human rights in their respective states. It is a reality that both countries have consolidated autocratic regimes with very conservative measures and heavily impacted by the most radical faction of Islam, resulting in significant consequences for women rights. Women have been oppressed and discriminated losing human rights such as access to education, freedom of marriage or medical attention, and the fight for their rights is a critical defy for these countries. Even though both countries have different histories, they share a common aspect: they have been in the spotlight of the United States’ foreign policy and economic interests. The Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan are very rich in natural resources, in petroleum, something which has made the US and other Western powers fight for the control of those states since the discovery of those sources. For all the above this Final Dissertation Project aims to devolve into the US influence in the current human rights situation of women in both Iran and Afghanistan.