Médecins du Monde (MdM, Doctors of the World) is a French humanitarian organisation that has been working in Afghanistan since 1982. Initially, MdM concentrated on surgery and refugee care in the ongoing civil war. In 1996, when the Taliban, an insurgent Islamic fundamentalist faction, took power and imposed strict Islamic rule, the mission changed to one of providing care and protection to women. After suffering from the physical violence of the war, women's and girls' personal lives continue to be affected by the complete isolation and severe violation of their basic human rights under the new government.

Although social and religious traditions had restricted women's lives long before, women played an important role in society throughout Afghanistan's history. Women were members of parliament, went to University and even studied abroad. In rural areas, women gathered in the so-called Loya Djiija, an assembly where women discussed community affairs. During the war with the USSR, women had to take over responsibilities from the men who went to war.

After the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan, several groups were fighting for control of the country. When the Taliban took power, women hoped the new government would improve their situation. However, the Taliban imposed a very strict interpretation of Islamic rule and had absolutely no consideration for women's basic rights and needs. As a result, women and young girls face serious proscriptions. For instance, they are not allowed to go to work; girls must leave school when they reach nine years of age; women are not allowed in public on their own and they must wear the chadri, a veil covering their whole body and leaving only a small opening of gauze before their eyes.

Severe restrictions on health-care

One of the more dangerous restrictions is that women are not allowed to be treated by male doctors. This rule is effectively denying many women medical care because the Faculty of Medicine is closed to female students and no new female doctors are coming into the system. Many hospitals are therefore officially forbidden to women. If a man does not accompany a woman, the hospital will not admit her, however serious her condition is. Women may, for example, die in labour simply because they are refused a blood transfusion. The Taliban have also decreed other regulations concerning women:

• Female patients can only be examined by female doctors;
• Doctors of different sexes are not allowed to speak with each other;
• Female doctors and nurses are not allowed in the rooms of men;
• During an examination, patients must wear traditional dress and may be touched only on the wounded area;
• The windows of waiting rooms for women must be fully covered.

A 35-year-old woman, explaining her situation, said: "In the villages women are living as animals. They don't have any rights and they are not able to take care for themselves. They don't have clothes, food or medication. If they are ill and their husband is not present, they have to stay at home. It is forbidden to see a doctor when they are not accompanied. And even the husband sometimes refuses to take his wife to a doctor: they think it is not necessary to take care of a woman: if she dies then she dies."

Measures to combat the restrictions

MdM and other NGOs protested when the Afghan Ministry of Health decided to give women access to only one poorly-equipped clinic. After negotiations, the government rescinded the measure but the hospitals still refused to take care of women. The women doctors who were fired did not return to work.

In addition to putting pressure on the government to improve the situation for women, MdM  supports nine protection centres for mothers and children in various areas of the capital Kabul, in Herat and Panshir. These centres train female medical personnel and offer consultations in paediatrics, gynaecology, monitoring pregnancy, detecting malnutrition, providing vaccination and general consultations. Another very important function of this centre is the training of female medical personnel.

Women today are fighting for their rights. A 35-year-old woman said: "All women hope to regain their rights. We have to fight to get back the rights given to us by the Islam. I am fighting on my own way. They closed the school doors for girls, but in my home I teach young girls and women. That is my way of fighting back."

MdM not only gives Afghan women a place to obtain medical care but also a place where women can continue to work as doctors, nurses and midwives. One 32-year-old female doctor said:  "Education has dropped to a very low level. Women are not allowed to go to school. I am very worried about the coming generation because there won't be any more nurses, female doctors or teachers. I don't know what is going to happen if the Taliban continue with their policy."

In line with MdM's slogan - "We fight against all diseases, even injustice," - MdM asked several photographers in the late nineties to make pictures of the lives of Afghan women. These photos now appear in an exhibition called Lifting the veil. To give an idea of what an Afghan woman sees through her veil, visitors can see the picture only if they lift the veil placed before the photo. The photos are accompanied by testimonies of Afghan women about the problems they face in their country. These testimonies are as important as the medical programmes that MdM is offering in Afghanistan. Fighting for these women is fighting for the rights of women all over the world.