Madison Women for Peace: Afghanistan Not a Success
"Walking Protest" to Visit Congressional Offices
At noon on Thursday, October 7, Madison Women for Peace will gather at the King Street side of Capital Square for a "walking protest" that will visit local Congressional offices to deliver information about the deplorable state of women's rights in Afghanistan. Participants will wear pink and be accompanied by a giant puppet symbolizing grief.
The action will mark the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Over the past three years, 137 U.S. military members and at least 3,800 Afghan civilians have been killed. On October 9, Afghanistan will hold presidential elections. Human rights and women's rights groups have warned about violence and intimidation from Taliban-like militias, electoral fraud, and the continued, extreme marginalization of women.
Madison Women for Peace also encourages Madison media to interview U.S.-based experts on Afghanistan, including:
- Dr. Cynthia Haq, UW professor of family medicine and population health sciences who has worked with health care professionals in Afghanistan
- Sonali Kolhatkar, Afghan Women's Mission director
- Masuda Sultan, Women for Afghan Women
- Meena Nanji, filmmaker who is finishing a documentary on Afghan women
- Anne Brodsky, assistant professor of psychology and women's studies at the University of Maryland who has traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan several times to work with Afghan women's groups
Madison Women for Peace is the local affiliate of the Code Pink: Women for Peace national network. The local group formed in March 2003, with an International Women's Day rally that brought hundreds of people out in a blizzard to encircle the State Capitol with pink rope, to express their opposition to military action against Iraq. More information can be found on their website, www.madwomen.org.