‘An Education Without any Fear?’ Higher Education and Gender Justice in Afghanistan

Abstract

This chapter explores the right to education as a gender justice issue in Afghanistan, with a particular focus on Afghan women students’ experiences in accessing and participating in higher education. Afghan women students, living in a complex social context where their right to education remains contested, identify a number of priorities for action to improve their access to and participation in higher education. These include the need for quotas to increase women’s enrolment, their ongoing need for financial support, the need for human rights education throughout Afghanistan to promote greater acceptance of women’s right to an education and the need to address their security concerns, so that they can exercise their right to education and contribute to Afghan society without fear for their personal safety, either now or in the future.