Last month Afghanistan’s Parliament passed a new law that severely restricts the rights of women.  Although the Afghan constitution calls for equal rights for men and women, this new law imposes standards that some say are worse than what the Taliban demanded.  This law forbids women to leave their homes except for emergencies; it forbids them to work or receive education without their husband’s express permission; it strips mothers of custody rights to their children in case of divorce; it makes it impossible for wives to inherit land or houses from their husbands; and it even permits marital rape, saying that women cannot refuse sexual relations unless they are sick.

And if those violations of women weren’t enough, it appears that President Karzai approved the law in an attempt to win more votes during an election year.  Apparently guaranteeing men the legal right to rape their wives scored high on the felt needs survey for his key swing demographic.  This isn’t simply cultural, or a way to “protect” women, as defenders are saying.  Expressions of conservative Muslim faith do exist that don’t treat women as pawns to be used by men for their own selfish ends.  This is about stripping women of their identity and humanity – controlling all aspects of their lives, including (especially) their bodies.

I’ve heard similar reports out of Iraq.  Since the fall of Saddam and the creation of the U.S. approved government, the rights of women have been restricted.  Many say that things are worse for women these days in Iraq than they were under Saddam.  This seriously bothers me.  In all of our attempts to spread freedom and democracy we seem to actually be making things worse for women.  And while the U.N. is calling for a repeal of this human rights violation and the British press is reporting on the outrage surrounding the law, I’ve heard very little about it in the U.S. press.  Why aren’t we outraged?  Why aren’t we standing up to defend the rights of Afghani women?

I have to wonder if we have been so indoctrinated by the anti-feminist rhetoric of pulpits and politicians that as a culture we instinctively shy away from doing anything that might make us seem like man-hating, bra-burning activists.  Women in our country can be educated, vote, have a bank account and a job, and yet somehow still think the term “feminist” is a bad word.  Freedoms and human rights were fought hard for by our predecessors, who didn’t fear the negative attitudes or hurtful words thrown at them by those who disapprove of equality.  We reap the benefits of those pioneers, but are too constrained by cultural ideologies to help bring those same freedoms to other women.

Sometimes though, outrage and activism are exactly what is needed.

Julie Clawson is the author of the forthcoming book Everyday Justice (IVP 2009).  She blogs at julieclawson.com and emergingwomen.us.