Afghan feminist calls for foreign troops to leave

Issue 

"The situation for women in Afghanistan is becoming worse than even during the period of rule by the Taliban", Afghan activist and feminist Shazia told an audience of 40 people at the Queensland Teachers Union office on June 15.

Shazia is a member of the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

"Gang rapes, violent attacks on women and forced marriage are commonplace. A new law legitimises rape in marriage", she said.

Shazia visited Brisbane as part of a nationwide tour organised by the Support Association for the Women of Afghanistan. She also spoke at the University of Queensland, Griffith University and elsewhere in Brisbane.

The government of Afghanistan is "filled with warlords and their agents. President [Hamid] Karzai is a puppet of the US", she said.

She also said the election of Barack Obama as US president has made no real difference and called for foreign soldiers to leave her country.

"The first step to our freedom is for all US and other troops, including Australian, to leave Afghanistan. At present, the money sent to Afghanistan is wasted on corrupt warlords and NGOs.

"RAWA supports education as the way forward for Afghan women. We need genuine reconstruction aid, not occupation by foreign troops."

[For more information, visit www.rawa.org or www.sawa-australia.org

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