Afghanistan
Conclusion
For Afghanis, family life continues to function as a paramount social institution. However, in the face of war and the refugee situation, families have experienced change and disruption. Afghani refugee women in Iran deeply regret the loss of family support, but governments and aid agencies have replaced some of this support. Refugee girls born or raised outside Afghanistan may not return, and some of those who have remained in the country are traumatized by chronic problems of displacement and famine. Further, there is a generation of young men and boys raised on the streets or in training camps and madrasses away from extended family's support and removed from its code of responsibility and rights. Despite the historic resilience of the people, this combination does not bode well for the future of Afghan family.
See also: ISLAM; WAR/POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Bibliography
Benjamin, J. (2000) "Afghanistan: Women Survivors of War under the Taliban." In War's Offensive on Women: The Humanitarian Challenge in Bosnia, Kosvo, and Afghanistan, ed. J. A Mertus. Bloomfield. CT: Kumarian Press.
Gerami, S. (1996). Women and Fundamentalism: Islam and Christianity. New York: Garland.
Gregorian, V. (1969). The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hatch Dupree, N. (1998). "Afghan Women under the Taliban." In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and Taliban, ed. William Maley. New York: New York University Press.
Rasekh, Z., et al. (1998). "Women's Health and Human Rights in Afghanistan." Journal of the American Medical Association 5:449–455.
Rubin, B. R. (1995). The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse of the International System. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Squire, C. (2000). "Education of Afghan Refugees in the Islamic Republic of Iran." Tehran: UNHCR and UNICEF.
Tapper, N. (1991). Bartered Brides: Politics, Gender and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2001a). Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Afghanistan. Geneva: Center for Documentation and Research.
Other Resources
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2001). "UN Prepares for Massive Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan." Available from http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home.
SHAHIN GERAMI
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaMarriage: Cultural AspectsAfghanistan - Historical Background, Continuity And Change In Traditional Afghani Family, The Afghani Family In The Early Twenty-first Century