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Carol J. Riphenburg is Professor of Political Science at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. She has published various articles on ethnicity, economics, the constitution, and role of women in Afghanistan in addition to a book and articles on Oman, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
Women's Prospects in Afghanistan: Oppression or Opportunity?
Recent media reports indicate that fewer Afghan women turned out to vote for a President on August 20, 2009 than went to the polls five years ago, when in some districts female turnout had been even higher than that of males. Apprehension, convention, ennui, and disorganization led to families keeping their women home on election day, even as men dared to vote. The reversal of women’s rights, which they had only recently begun to exercise, is an ominous sign.
