|
Source: Voice of America / 28-Aug-98 11:31 AM EDT (1531 UTC) NNNN
INTRO: THIS MONTH "THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION"
PUBLISHED A SURVEY DOCUMENTING FOR THE FIRST TIME THE WIDESPEAD PHYSICAL
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUFFERING INFLICTED ON WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN BY THE TALEBAN
REGIME. A MORE DETAILED REPORT WILL COME OUT AS A BOOK IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.
VOA'S JUDITH LATHAM HAS TALKED WITH THE SENIOR MEDICAL RESEARCHER OF PHYSICIANS
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WHOSE INTERVIEWS WITH AFGHAN WOMEN IN KABUL AND PAKISTAN
FORM THE BASIS FOR THIS HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS SURVEY. HERE'S _____ WITH
A REPORT.
TEXT: ZOHRA RASEKH'S [ZOR-AH RAH-SEK] REPORT PROVIDES THE FIRST-EVER
OPPORTUNITY FOR A BROAD RANGE OF AFGHAN WOMEN TO EXPRESS THE CONCERNS THEY
HAVE ABOUT BEING UNDER TALEBAN CONTROL. TALEBAN FORCES TOOK CONTROL OF
KABUL IN SEPTEMBER 1996 AND IMPOSED NEW LAWS SEVERELY RESTRICTING FEMALE
EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, MOBILITY, AND HEALTH CARE. MS. RASEKH SAYS AFGHAN
WOMEN NOW FACE A HOST OF HEALTH PROBLEMS THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO TALEBAN
POLICIES.
TAPE: CUT ONE -- RASEKH (0:29)
"WE LOOKED AT PHYSICAL HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH, REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH. AND WHAT WE FOUND, WHICH WAS VERY SHOCKING, WAS THE IMPACT THAT
THE TALEBAN POLICIES IN THE PAST TWO YEARS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN IN KABUL,
HAVE HAD ON MENTAL HEALTH. THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR STUDY PARTICIPANTS
SHOWED MAJOR DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER."
TEXT: PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCHER ZOHRA RASEKH SAYS WOMEN
IN AFGHAN SOCIETY USED TO PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS,
GOVERNMENT, AND TEACHING. BUT SHE SAYS THAT, SINCE THE TALEBAN TOOK CONTROL,
WOMEN HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO WORK. MS. RASEKH SAYS SCHOOLS FOR WOMEN
AND GIRLS HAVE BEEN CLOSED, EXCEPT FOR QUR'ANIC TRAINING FOR GIRLS UNDER
EIGHT. SHE SAYS SHE TALKED WITH AFGHAN WOMEN WHO WERE BRUTALLY BEATEN FOR
WALKING ON THE STREET WITHOUT A MALE CHAPERONE OR WITHOUT A "BURQA,"
A GARMENT THAT COVERS THEIR BODIES FROM HEAD TO TOE. MS. RAHSEKH SAYS WOMEN
CANNOT OBTAIN HEALTH CARE FROM MANY FACILITIES, AND MALE DOCTORS ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO CARE FOR WOMEN UNLESS THEY ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A MALE CHAPERONE.
TAPE: CUT TWO -- RAHSEKH (0:19)
"EVEN IF THEY WERE ACCOMPANIED BY A MALE CHAPERONE, THEIR TREATMENT
WAS VERY LIMITED. THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TREAT WOMEN AS A DOCTOR IS SUPPOSED
TO TREAT A PATIENT. THEY HAD TO EXAMINE THEM THROUGH THEIR CLOTHING. IF
THERE WAS SURGERY NEEDED, THAT WAS NOT AN OPTION -- FOR A FEMALE PATIENT
TO BE OPERATED ON BY A MALE DOCTOR."
TEXT: MS. RAHSEKH SAYS THIS PROBLEM IS COMPOUNDED BECAUSE MANY FEMALE
DOCTORS AND NURSES HAVE ALREADY LEFT AFGHANISTAN BECAUSE OF THE RESTRICTIONS
THE TALEBAN IMPOSED ON THEM. AND, THERE ARE FEW SPECIALISTS SUCH AS SURGEONS
OR OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNOCOLOGISTS. ZOHRA RAHSEKH SAYS, IF AN AFGHAN WOMAN
NEEDS MAJOR SURGERY, SHE HAS TO GO TO PAKISTAN, AND MANY CANNOT AFFORD
THE TRIP. ACCORDING TO HER RESEARCH WITH PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, GETTING
ADEQUATE MATERNITY CARE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM, AND PRENATAL AND POST-NATAL
CARE ARE ALSO VERY POOR. MS. ROSEKH SAYS ONE HOSPITAL IN KABUL HAS BEEN
DESIGNATED AS A MATERNITY HOSPITAL, ALTHOUGH WOMEN ARE SOMETIMES ALLOWED
TO USE OTHER HOSPITALS WHEN THEY ARE HAVING BABIES.
TAPE: CUT THREE -- RAHSEKH (0:48)
"IN ONE OF THE HOSPITALS THAT DOES ACCEPT WOMEN AND DOES DELIVERIES
THERE, WOMEN DELIVERED ON THE FLOOR. THAT'S HOW POOR THE CONDITION IS FOR
WOMEN. I WAS IN THE ONLY MATERNITY HOSPITAL, AND WHAT I SAW IN ONE OF THE
ROOMS I WENT IN [WAS] TWO PATIENTS WERE LYING DOWN IN ONE BED AND THESE
WERE TWO WOMEN WHO HAD COMPLICATIONS, AND ONE WOMAN WAS BLEEDING AND WAITING
FOR HER UNBORN CHILD TO DIE BECAUSE SHE COULD NOT AFFORD AN ANTIGEN FOR
AN R-H INCOMPATABILITY. IT WAS SO SAD SEEING HER LYING THERE IN THE HOSPITAL,
AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BE DONE FOR HER."
TEXT: ZOHRA RAHSEKH SAYS THAT AFGHAN WOMEN WHO ONCE WORKED AND CONTRIBUTED
TO THE SUPPORT OF THEIR FAMILIES HAVE BECOME DESTITUTE. IN KABUL, SHE ADDS,
ABOUT 40,000 WIDOWS HAVE PUT ON THEIR 'BURKAS' TO GO BEG ON THE STREETS,
JUST TO FEED THEMSELVES AND THEIR CHILDREN.
TAPE: CUT FOUR -- RAHSEKH (0:18)
"THEY WERE MISERABLE. MOST OF THEM HAD SOLD THEIR HOUSEHOLD
ITEMS. BEGGING WAS A MAJOR VOCATION FOR WOMEN. IT WAS PART OF THE SOCIETY.
I SAW HALF OF THE KABUL POPULATION OUT ON THE STREET BEGGING, FROM MEN
TO WOMEN TO CHILDREN OF ALL AGES."
TEXT: MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PHYSICIANS
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SURVEY REPORTED A DECLINE IN THEIR PHYSICAL HEALTH OVER
THE PAST TWO YEARS, MS. RAHSEKH SAYS. AND, A MAJORITY OF THE AFGHAN WOMEN
DESCRIBED OCCASIONS WHERE THEY WERE SERIOUSLY ILL AND UNABLE TO SEEK MEDICAL
CARE. ZOHRA RASEKH SAYS AN AFGHAN PHYSICIAN REPORTED DECLINING NUTRITION
IN CHILDREN, AN INCREASING RATE OF TUBERCULOSIS, AND A HIGH PREVALENCE
OF OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES AMONG WOMEN AND CHILDREN. SHE SAYS MALE DOCTORS'
ACCESS TO SICK CHILDREN WITHIN WOMEN'S HOSPITALS IS SEVERELY CURTAILED,
LEADING TO UNNECESSARY DEATH.
RESEARCHER ZOHRA RASEKH SAYS THE TALEBAN'S RESTRICTIONS DEPRIVING
HALF THE POPULATION OF JOBS, SCHOOLING, MOBILITY, AND HEALTH CARE ARE LITERALLY
"LIFE-THREATENING" TO AFGHAN WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN. THE REPORT
OF PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS URGES THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO CONSIDER
WAYS THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE "VAST DEGRADATION OF WOMEN AND
GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN" BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE BEFORE THE WORLD FOR HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. AMONG ITS MANY RECOMMENDATIONS IS THAT AFGHAN WOMEN
WHO FLEE PERSECUTION BY THE TALEBAN BE DESIGNATED AS "REFUGEES."
| 
