Letter to Hon. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State - U.S. Rep. Lawrence and Democratic Women's Caucus Call for Security for Afghan Women and a Women, Peace, and Security-Centered U.S. Policy Towards Afghanistan

Letter

Dear Secretary Blinken:
We write to you deeply concerned about the dire situation in Afghanistan. In light of the recent
developments, we fear that the immense gains for Afghan women and girls accomplished over
the past twenty years will be lost, and that women along with religious and ethnic minorities in
particular will face increased attacks and assassinations by the Taliban, ISIS, and warlords.
The Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic
Empowerment Act of 2019, and Section 1218 of the FY2021 National Defense Authorization
Act demonstrate Congress' continued commitment to putting gender equality, women's rights,
and the meaningful participation of women in society and conflict resolution at the heart of our
foreign policy agenda, including in Afghanistan. We therefore urge you to use all available tools
to protect at-risk groups and ensure that any political or peace process going forward is inclusive
of women's political and peacebuilding participation.
First, with the tragic developments unfolding in Afghanistan, it is more urgent than ever
that the United States take action to fully secure the airport and offer support and
evacuation opportunities to Afghan women human rights defenders, rights activists,
politicians, journalists, other highly visible women leaders, and Special Immigrant Visa
recipients and applicants and their families at risk of being targeted by the Taliban.
Congress appropriated emergency funds for Afghan refugees, a significant portion of which
should be made available for the Priority 2 program and assisting Afghan women fleeing the
Taliban. Further interagency actions must also be carried out immediately to evacuate Afghan
women seeking safety outside the country, establish a special parole program for at-risk Afghan
women leaders, and establish a high-level Interagency Refugee Coordinator to manage the
immediate impacts from the rapid developments in Kabul.
Second, we respectfully request that you work with all relevant agencies to conduct an
assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan. Using gender-sensitive conflict analysis
and an atrocity prevention lens, we urge you to identify women who are most vulnerable to
violence, persecution, and other adverse outcomes, and provide Congress with an interagency
action plan with specific, time-bound steps to be taken over the next year to accomplish the
following three objectives:
1) Mitigate rising violence against Afghan women, girls, and religious/ethnic minorities;
2) Meaningfully include Afghan women, girls, and religious and ethnic minorities in any
political or peace process; and
3) Establish policies and programs to protect and monitor the preservation of their rights and
gains going forward.
Mitigating Rising Violence
As efforts are underway to evacuate vulnerable Afghan citizens who have helped the United
States, we urge that Afghan human rights defenders and other individuals with high levels of
visibility such as politicians, journalists, and negotiators -- especially women -- be offered
humanitarian parole services, assistance and opportunities to be evacuated. Further, vulnerable
Afghans, including women at risk of violence, including sexual violence, due to occupation,
advocacy, or location, should be designated as a Priority 2 group of special humanitarian concern
for the purposes of refugee processing and provided additional avenues for immigration and
humanitarian relief. The Improving Access for Afghan Refugees Act introduced by the leadership
of the Democratic Women's Caucus provides a roadmap for expanding access to the refugee
system for these at-risk populations. We furthermore urge you to direct diplomatic officials to
prioritize Afghan women for Priority 1 referrals.
In addition, any transitional security arrangements should be directly informed by women's
priorities and established at the provincial and national levels accompanied by a monitoring
mechanism. Monitoring mechanisms could be modeled after the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights and the Syrian Justice and Accountability Center.
Meaningful Inclusion in the Peace Process
Research has found that women's inclusion in peace negotiations makes the resulting agreement
35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years. For any successful political or peace process to
advance in Afghanistan at this stage, there needs to be a diverse coalition of women leaders
from local and provincial governance as well as from the international community, civil
society, and the Taliban, and which must include women victims of war.
We respectfully request that you advocate firmly and consistently in your role as convener on
behalf of the United States and as part of efforts led by the international community that any
political or peace process, and any future agreement focus on safeguarding human rights
with a woman-centered perspective. As such, there should be ongoing virtual consultations
with Afghan women parliamentarians and civil society leaders to understand the situation for
Afghan women and girls.
Any future peace or political process should also address the rights of women victims of war,
including their right to justice, and should include processes for the voluntary return and
repatriation of Afghan women refugees into civil society and the provision of assistance such as
housing, security, livelihood opportunities, and life skills training.
Protecting and Maintaining Women's Rights and Gains
While the role of the United States in Afghanistan has changed, it is critical that the United
States support efforts by Afghan women to ensure any amended Constitution by the Afghan
people or governing laws and institutions going forward recognize and uphold the fundamental
rights of all Afghans to life, dignity, and property, and the protection of human, civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights. These rights include access to education, justice, work, and
political participation; the freedoms of movement, expression, the press, and association and
assembly; freedom from gender discrimination in community-level decision-making; and the
right to work free from employment discrimination, especially for women in the media,
judiciary, and security sectors.
Additionally, women's rights must be upheld and protected and women must retain rights such
as access to health and safety, protection in school, work, and places of worship, safe retreat
during times of violence, rights to political participation in all forms, equal protection and due
process under the law, and other such equitable and autonomous rights. Further, women who are
victims of violence, including domestic violence and violent conflict, must be protected and
provided with legal, social, and psychological assistance to be able to seek justice within the
justice system.
In order to achieve lasting stability and security in Afghanistan, the inclusion of Afghan women
must be centered in a political process going forward. There must be free and transparent
elections and women must be included in Parliament, the Cabinet, and local government. The
United States should also support Afghan partners in their work to ensure that at least 30 percent
of each party's electoral positions are reserved for women with increases in percentage over time
to match the proportion of women in the general population.
Effective implementation of the U.S. women, peace, and security agenda requires ongoing and
robust consultations with Afghan women and continued and vocal American support for
women's inclusion and leadership in Afghanistan. Critical to achieving these aims is the
appointment of a highly visible Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues to coordinate
U.S. efforts to protect and support women and girls in Afghanistan, and key officials with
expertise in issues of gender equity to advance this agenda in Afghanistan such as through the
establishment of a Senior Gender Equity Official in the Office of the Special Representative for
Afghan Reconciliation.
Through our meetings with Afghan women officials and delegates, it has been conveyed to us
the value of conditioning U.S. assistance on the preservation of civil and political rights of
women and democratic norms that protect women's rights. We support the development of a
strategy on how the U.S. might provide or withhold U.S. assistance based on meaningful
progress on intra-Afghan peace negotiations and political processes going forward.
While our military posture in Afghanistan has changed, the Democratic Women's Caucus
remains committed to working with you to advance an American foreign policy that fully
implements our women, peace, and security agenda and supports the courageous and tireless
efforts of Afghan women leaders to protect the rights of women and girls and secure lasting
peace and stability in their country. A permanent resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan and
resulting threats to the American homeland cannot be achieved without the full and meaningful
participation of women in Afghan society. We therefore urge you and this Administration to
fully implement and advance women's rights and a women, peace, and security-centered
approach to U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan as our military withdraws and our longer-term
strategy in the country and region is defined.