"I believe I can do a lot to support women, to bring them into leadership roles and raise their concerns," said Jalal, a mother of three. "The Afghan constitution says men and women are equal before the law, and I intend to implement the constitution." But any discussion of women's rights under Islam, she said firmly, "should be left to scholars."
In Afghan culture, a strictly traditional view is taken of women's marital rights under Islam. Marriages are arranged, and engaged couples do not meet alone. Girls live with their parents until marriage and then immediately go to live with their husband's parents. Men often have two wives and sometimes up to four, as Islam allows in some cases.
(Photos Pamela Constable -- The Washington Post)
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Divorce is not common, but it is far easier for a man to obtain one than it is for a woman. Married women face strong pressure from relatives and judges to remain with their husbands -- even an abusive one. If a woman insists on a divorce, courts generally award the children to the husband. In dividing inheritances, male heirs receive double the property female heirs do.
Over the past two decades, moreover, Afghan society has become more conservative, not less. Movements to embrace modernization and communism in the 1970s led to a decade-long occupation of the country by the Soviet Union and eventual civil war among Islamic factions, culminating in the repressive rule of the extremist Taliban movement between 1996 and late 2001.
"We are coming out of mujaheddin and Taliban culture, and conservative tradition has become the norm," said Jawad Luddin, Karzai's chief spokesman. He said the president had tried to be respectful of all views and suggested that Pedram should have been more circumspect. "This has always been a bombshell issue, and a good politician has to suppress himself," he said.
"Women should not be abused, but we should not ignore our traditions either," said Hafiz Mansour, a conservative presidential candidate who spoke at the women's forum. "In the West, women are used to sell lipstick and shampoo. We want them to become educated, to become professionals, but not to be used as a thing and thrown out."
He also said that Islam allowed women more marital rights than critics might think. For example, men may marry several wives but only under limited conditions, such as when one wife is chronically ill or cannot bear a son, and even then only if the husband is able to treat all of them fairly. Islam also allows a woman to sue for divorce if her husband abuses her, fails to support her or forces her to be involved in crime.
"Marriage does not make a woman hostage for life," Mansour said. "What Pedram said is already in the Koran."
While no one is rushing to endorse Pedram's statements, other candidates are scrambling to develop reasonable-sounding policies on women's rights. But, as Jalal points out, Afghan women are just beginning to discover and exercise their political voice -- and they have far more urgent priorities than the right to divorce.
"Women need better health care, better education, better jobs. If a woman has no education, how can she defend her rights?" Jalal said. "The fact that I am a candidate at all is a revolution. If we can get women into office to serve other women, then we can start to bring real change."
