Gender, human rights and intercultural awareness. The example of Afghanistan

Abstract

This paper discusses the dilemmas posed by efforts of the international community to ensure respect for the women rights in Afghanistan. Firstly, the difficulty for knowing the problems and interests of Afghan women, whose voices are hardly heard. The second dilemma raises the international community legitimacy when it comes to impose changes in behavior standards entrenched in the Afghan culture. This second dilemma raises several different questions: who defines the contents of customary laws and how permanent it should be considered. But the main question arises from the universal validity of human rights. Ultimately, it comes to answer a question: Can you impose our conception of human rights in other cultural areas?