Afghan physician and rights advocate Sima Samar argues that her country cannot achieve peace, security, and justice unless women are empowered and become full participants in the democratic process.Samar describes how, when she was young, she was able to study in a co-educational school. But in today’s Afghanistan, she reveals, such a thought is unimaginable. Samar rejects the idea that an Afghan culture that discriminates against women must be respected. The mistreatment of women, she warns, is not “cultural,” but a violation of human rights.
