The Pitfalls of Protection: Gender, Violence, and Power in Afghanistan

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Univ of California Press, May 22, 2017 - History - 215 pages
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Since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, violence against women has emerged as the single most important issue for Afghan gender politics. The Pitfalls of Protection, based on research conducted in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2015, locates the struggles over gender violence in local and global power configurations. The author finds that aid flows and geopolitics have served as both opportunities and obstacles to feminist politics in Afghanistan. Showing why Afghan activists often chose to use the leverage of Western powers instead of entering into either protracted negotiations with powerful national actors or broad political mobilization, the book examines both the achievements and the limits of this strategy. 
 

Contents

The Politics of Violence against Women
1
Histories of Gender
27
The Battles over
51
The Special Prosecution Unit for Crimes
85
The Womens Shelters
108
Runaway Women
131
Upholding Citizen Honor? Rape in the Courts and Beyond
152
Protection at a Price?
169
Notes
181
References
197
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About the author (2017)

Torunn Wimpelmann is a researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute.

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