--- title: What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women description: Harris has taken a strong stance on women's rights. If she is elected President, she could take that message global. canonical: https://time.com/7013395/kamala-harris-afghanistan-women/ author: Zarlasht Halaimzai article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-08-21T15:49:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:20.058Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women og:description: Harris has taken a strong stance on women's rights. If she is elected President, she could take that message global. og:url: https://time.com/7013395/kamala-harris-afghanistan-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31f725b004e08088/698a5a2116d8843b82c3f00d/GettyImages-2165925544.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Kamala Harris And Tim Walz Campaign In Michigan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women twitter:description: Harris has taken a strong stance on women's rights. If she is elected President, she could take that message global. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31f725b004e08088/698a5a2116d8843b82c3f00d/GettyImages-2165925544.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women ## Video: Kamala Harris Makes Appearance on First Night of DNC, Thanks Biden for "Historic Legacy" [Watch (HLS stream): Kamala Harris Makes Appearance on First Night of DNC, Thanks Biden for "Historic Legacy"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ps6AdbcG.m3u8) (2:20)  _Published 2024-08-20. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appeared to address the crowd on the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday._ by [Zarlasht Halaimzai](https://time.com/author/zarlasht-halaimzai/) ## Zarlasht Halaimzai Aug 21, 2024 3:49 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on Aug. 8, 2024 in Wayne, Michigan. Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on Aug. 8, 2024 in Wayne, Michigan.Andrew Harnik—Getty Images by [Zarlasht Halaimzai](https://time.com/author/zarlasht-halaimzai/) ## Zarlasht Halaimzai Aug 21, 2024 3:49 PM UTC Three years ago, Afghan women lost most of their civil rights overnight, when the Taliban [marched into Kabul](https://time.com/6091712/aghanistan-women-loss/) and quickly seized the country against little resistance. As [Vice President Kamala Harris](https://time.com/7009317/reintroduction-of-kamala-harris/) accepts the presidential nomination this week at the Democratic National Convention, the Taliban’s wholesale disregard for women’s rights is a stark contrast to the [possibility](https://time.com/7012128/kamala-harris-trump-election-polls-lead-betting-odds-favorite-dnc/) of the first woman President in American history. But Harris, who has taken a [strong stance](https://time.com/7001208/kamala-harris-views-abortion-economy-immigration-israel-gaza/) on women’s rights, could break with previous U.S. policy failures and reset the U.S.-Afghan relationship in a way that genuinely prioritizes Afghan women. Today, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are [prohibited](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68634700#) from going to school. Women and girls are banned from many public spaces, are required to [cover their faces](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/07/taliban-order-all-afghan-women-to-wear-burqa) in public, and are [restricted](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/11/taliban-ban-on-women-has-forced-un-into-appalling-choice) from employment. These increasingly prohibitive _fatwas_—legal rulings under the Taliban’s perverse interpretation of Sharia law—severely restrict women’s movement and participation in society in what many are calling “[gender apartheid](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/06/gender-apartheid-must-be-recognized-international-law/).” **Read More:** [_Why TIME Dedicated an Issue to Afghan Women Around the World_](https://time.com/6205282/afghan-women-anniversary-rukhshana-media/) The horrific impact of gender apartheid in Afghanistan is unsurprising. Afghans are poorer, jobs have been decimated, civil society and media have collapsed, and the country now has [one of the lowest](https://data.undp.org/countries-and-territories/AFG) Human Development Index rankings. The social, cultural, and political gains that were made for women during the U.S. war in Afghanistan have all but disappeared. The country remains the [unhappiest](https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/happiness-of-the-younger-the-older-and-those-in-between/#ranking-of-happiness-2021-2023) in the world. Yet Afghan women continue to resist. Despite serious risks to their safety, women are protesting in the streets under the slogan “[_Bread, Work, Freedom_](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/16/bread-work-freedom-afghan-womens-two-years-resistance),” organizing underground schools just as they did in the 1990s, and allying with women’s rights champions like [Malala Yousafzai](https://time.com/5793780/malala-yousafzai-100-women-of-the-year/) and Angelina Jolie to raise global awareness. With the prospect of a President Harris, Afghan women are wondering: can they expect an ally in the White House? President Biden’s [chaotic withdrawal](https://time.com/6090523/biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-taliban/) from Afghanistan was catastrophic for Afghan families now painfully separated and, especially, for the women now repressed under Taliban rule. What’s more, a push to normalize U.S.-Taliban diplomatic relations is gaining momentum. The Taliban is now the U.S.’ primary counterterrorism partner in Afghanistan. Even U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres [met with](https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146657) Taliban leaders in Doha in June, granting them more legitimacy and undermining women’s rights advocates who were excluded entirely from the gathering. Instead, a President Harris could globalize her outspoken support for women’s rights to include Afghan women. She could embrace the effort to codify gender apartheid in the U.N.’s Crime Against Humanity treaty, allying herself with women in places like Afghanistan and Iran to elevate their cause while building trust with the U.S. government and an international system that has disregarded their issues. The U.S. has already disbursed [around $3 billion](https://www.sigar.mil/interactive-reports/sigar-quarterly-report-2024-01-30/#) to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. But Harris could step up that humanitarian funding, particularly to aid locally-led organizations working in Afghanistan to support women—recognizing that living under a gender apartheid system presents unique challenges. And she could recommit to offering asylum to Afghan women endangered by the Taliban. There are about [70,000 Afghan evacuees](https://theconversation.com/3-years-after-fall-of-kabul-us-congress-has-still-not-acted-to-secure-future-of-more-than-70-000-afghan-evacuees-in-us-235080) in the U.S and their future is still uncertain. A President Harris could secure their future by ensuring that the [Afghan Adjustment Act ](https://www.afghanamericans.org/aafintro)passes through Congress. More fundamentally, Harris could be the first President since Jimmy Carter who chooses to not view Afghanistan solely through a geopolitical lens—whether anti-Communism during the Soviet invasion or counterterrorism following 9/11\. She could renegotiate the diplomatic relationship with the Taliban, making it conditional upon respect for women’s rights, including a guarantee of access to healthcare and education. Some may argue that women’s rights are secondary to the need for partnership with the Taliban to counter the threat of a [rising Islamic State-Khorasan](https://www.rferl.org/a/islamic-state-khorasan-rise-afghanistan-growing-ambitions/32878355.html) in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Indeed, Trump’s record suggests that a transactional approach would guide his Afghanistan policy. But 40 years of failed U.S. policies in Afghanistan are the result of this faulty thinking. Ultimately, Afghanistan is more stable and its people more successful when women are not repressed—when they can be educated and work. A President Harris offers the chance of a reset. ### More from TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7013395/kamala-harris-afghanistan-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7013395/kamala-harris-afghanistan-women/"},"headline":"What Kamala Harris Could Do for Afghan Women","datePublished":"2024-08-21T15:49:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:20.058Z","description":"Harris has taken a strong stance on women's rights. 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