Many women in Afghanistan still do not receive the same rights as women do all around the world. For example, more than 50 percent of Afghan women are married or engaged by age 12. Almost 60 percent of girls are married by age 16 and they are usually forced or arranged marriages in poor rural areas. Most girls marry far older men, most of them are in their sixties, and they meet them on the day of their wedding. From three decades of war there has been a lack of security, and the risk of kidnapping and rape which forced families into marrying off their young daughters. Most marriages are to pay off debt or resolve a dispute. Poverty forces parents to marry off their daughters so they can avoid the cost of caring for them. Older, wealthier husbands will pay a larger bride price for a girl. Girls are expected to have children at these young ages when they get married, which increases health problems and risk of death for them and the baby. Married girls often receive abuse from their husband or in-laws. Girls receive a lack of education, only 40 percent of girls attend elementary school and only 1 in 20 girls attend school beyond 6th grade.
In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, this oppression against women is evident in the story. Mariam was only fifteen when she married Rasheed who was well in his forties or fifties and they met on their wedding day and didn't even make eye contact. Mariam received a lot of abuse from Rasheed, either physical or verbal abuse. When Mariam was pregnant Rasheed treated her better but she kept having miscarriages which made him hate her. When Laila had Aziza, Rasheed did not respect her because she was a girl but when Laila had Zalmai, Rasheed treated him like he was a king and acted as if Aziza didn't exist. Laila was not able to finish her schooling because the war got so bad it was too dangerous for her to walk to school. Laila an Mariam were able to escape Rasheed and his abuse and the oppression of women in Kabul but Laila knew she belonged there and had to help so she returned.
