have been threatened with dire consequences for hiring female employees. Women cannot venture out of the house alone unless accompanied by an appropriate male member of the woman's immediate family. Afghanistan women do not have the right to quality health care if that health care involves male providers. No women can see a male doctor, family planning is outlawed, and a surgical team which includes a male member regardless of the severity of the situation cannot operate upon women. The women of Afghanistan also have no legal recourse. A women's testimony is worth half a man's testimony. A woman cannot petition the court directly; a male member from her family must do it for her. Women are not allowed to do anything recreational as sporting facilities have banned women from their use. Women singers cannot sing, nor are they allowed to show their faces in public or to male strangers. Women cannot wear make-up or brightly colored clothing. They may appear outside their homes only when they are clad head to foot in shapeless garments called burqus. They cannot wear shoes with heels that click or travel in private vehicles with male passengers. They do not have the right to raise their voices when speaking in public, nor can they laugh loudly since the culture believes that her laughter lures males into corruption. Women in Afghanistan have few rights at best. They are controlled mostly by their husbands and cannot do anything that relates to politics or government. Most men look upon women as possessions with their bodies and minds owned totally by the men to whom they are sold through marriage. When a woman does go against these cultural and religious laws, the usual consequence is a beating or stoning. Beatings in Afghanistan occur for what appears to be small insignificant things. If a woman is wearing brightly colored shoes or thin stockings or violating any of the other rules of appearance, they may be beaten which sometimes results...
