How Afghan midwives are challenging Taliban strictures on women
After years of saving the lives of Afghan mothers and their newborn babies, the veteran midwife was shocked this week when a long-haired Taliban commander and two fighters entered the clinic where she worked in a remote corner of southeast Afghanistan.
The Taliban insulted the staff, saying women “have no right to go out or work at all” and that their freedoms of the last 20 years – being educated, working in offices, “attending meetings with men,” and going out without a male guardian – had “ruined Afghanistan.”
“Midwives are not necessary in society, because death is in the hands of God, and only God can save mothers’ lives,” railed the Taliban commander, according to the midwife in Paktika province, who asked not to be named for her safety.
“They do not respect the work of doctors or midwives at all,
Midwives as a barometerIn remote areas, some hopeImpressive gainsWorking conditions
