In July, a group of young and brave Afghan women launched a massive campaign on social media titled “Where is my Name” to protest the laws and customs that prevented them from being called by their names in the country. The campaign brings the traditionalist radical mentality, which is prevalent in the Islamic World and regards women as second-class citizens, to light once again. This discriminatory practice in question makes it necessary for women, whose names are excluded from all aspects of social life, to be called only by the names of their close male relatives. Men address their wives in public with indirect and disdainful expressions, such as “Mother of the Children”, “Housefolk” or “My Weakling”. Some Afghan men, however, go so far as to use this tradition to indulge in the humiliation of women. These people try to cover their primitive and hung-up personalities, which are the typical characteristics of the bigots, with their ugly language, addressing their wives with degrading nicknames such as “My Goat” or “My Chicken”. It is forbidden for women to use their birth names in official documents, wedding invitations, even on tombstones. It…
Social Media Campaign to Help Afghan Women Break Free From the Chains of Radicalism
September 23, 2017
