Suffering from decades of poverty, war, and oppressive rule, Afghanistan is now at a pivotal point in its history. The historic democratic elections of 2004 have laid the groundwork for democracy, but there is much work to be done to continue this momentum – especially in the area of women’s rights. 
For decades Afghan women were denied the most basic human rights.
Before the Soviets, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda, Afghan women lived much like women in the U.S. today. They held positions in medicine, business, education, and government. Yet under the Taliban all this changed. Suddenly women were not allowed to attend school, to work – or even laugh out loud. They could not appear in public without a male relative and they were forced to cover up, head-to-toe, in a burqa.. 
What the world often sees is the positive news: There is a new constitution that extends equality to women. 25% of the seats in lower Parliament are now reserved for women. 65% of women registered to vote in 2004 and in 2005 thousands of women risked their lives to cast ballots – electing an unprecedented 62 women to Parliament.
