Afghan female volleyball players call for change

Yahoo – AFP, December 1, 2016

The United Nations hosted the tournament as part of a campaign against
gender violence in Afghanistan (AFP Photo/Shah Marai)

Afghan female volleyball players called for a change in mindset Thursday at a Kabul tournament marking a rare chance for women athletes to compete in the national spotlight in the deeply conservative, war-torn Muslim country.

The United Nations hosted the tournament as part of a campaign against gender violence in Afghanistan, still seen by foreign observers as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman.

"Initially, my father was against my playing volleyball, he threw out my jerseys," Muzhgan Sadat, a member of the Afghan Red Crescent team, told AFP.

The young business graduate, her head covered in a scarf, said she begged her father to reconsider -- and, when he finally saw her play, "he changed his mentality".

"I urge every single person, please change your mind and don't look down on women," the 23-year-old said.

"Please don't impose your restrictions and oppressions on them. A woman has the same abilities as a man does... Chase your dreams, never give up, fight against restrictions and show your parents that women can be as good as men."

Gender equality in Afghanistan has improved somewhat since a US-led 

coalition toppled the hardline Taliban regime in 2001 (AFP Photo/Shah Marai)

Shugla Hellali, a specialist on gender issues at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, told AFP she is "optimistic" about women in Afghanistan.

"Ten years ago, we had no girls' volleyball team in the country, but now they have come such a long way forward," she said.

Gender equality in Afghanistan has improved somewhat since a US-led coalition toppled the hardline Taliban regime in 2001, but women still suffer tight restrictions and regular violence.

In March 2015, a 27-year-old woman known as Farkhunda was beaten to death in Kabul after being falsely accused of blasphemy, a case that became a symbol of the endemic violence that women still face.

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“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”