Citation

Palmer C. Lancet 1998; 352(9129): 734.

Affiliation

Physicians for Human Rights, Boston, MA 02116, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(05)60848-3

PMID

9729009

Abstract

When the UN, on May 13, 1998, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Taliban, the organization agreed with the Taliban's position on women's health care, work, and education, effectively denying Afghan women any rights in these areas. Afghan women are currently beaten for appearing on the street without a male chaperone or without wearing a burka (a garment which covers them from head to toe). They are forced to beg, destitute, on the streets. A study conducted by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) describes the effects of this system upon the mental and physical health of Afghan women. For 3 months, PHR interviewed 200 women living in Kabul and in refugee camps in Pakistan. The health of 142 (71%) had deteriorated over the past 2 years; 106 (53%) described incidences where they were denied medical care while seriously ill. A 20-year-old woman who suffered from stomach pains for days before dying could not be taken to a hospital because her mother did not own a burka. Other women had been denied care because of economic hardship, the absence of female doctors or of male chaperones, mobility restrictions, or refusals by hospitals to care for females. Interviewed physicians described worsening child nutrition, increasing rates of tuberculosis, and increasing prevalence of other communicable diseases. 97% of the women had major depression; 42% suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder; and 21% often had suicidal thoughts.

Language: en