Setback for Women's Rights in Afghanistan?

(CBS)  The prospect of bringing the Taliban to the bargaining table is raising fears that the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan will be sacrificed.

Special Section: Afghanistan | The Road Ahead

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Kabul last month, promised they would not be bargained away in any peace settlement with the Taliban.

But President Karzai asks, "if you had to choose between saving a girl's life or enabling her to go to school, which would you do first?"

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports many Afghan women want both.

Shamsia Husseini was on her way to school when a man on a motorbike roared up and threw acid in her face. It burned a hole right through her burqa. It was a message from the Taliban: "Don't let your daughters go to school." Shamsia and five other girls were badly burned.

The Mirwais School for Girls is deep in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar. It's one of the few that's stayed open in defiance of the Taliban. Today - nearly two years later -- Shamsia is back at school, an unlikely crusader for education. Her scars are almost gone, but her eyes still burn, and she fears the man on the motorbike will return.

"I still have nightmares," she said. "I will fight these people by continuing to go to school. Last time they threw acid to stop me, but even if they hit me with bullets, I will not stop going to school."

There are over two million girls going to school today in Afghanistan. That's a huge leap forward. Under the Taliban in the 1990s, there were almost none. Girls were forced to stay home. Now the Taliban is trying to turn back the clock. Attacks on schools have almost doubled in the last year.

Meanwhile, hardline militants have made headlines in recent weeks: a pregnant woman was lashed and shot; a pair of young lovers, stoned; public floggings.

Many women fear that if the Taliban return to power it will also mean a return to harsh Islamic law. And now that the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai has said he'll consider negotiating with the Taliban - in return for ending the war - they're even more fearful.

"History tells us what they want. They don't want women in the workplace, they want girls to stay home, they want absolutely no education for girls," said Manizha Naderi, Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women. "They're not going to back out of their demands."

The shelter is one of a handful in the country that offers women a safe haven from physical abuse or rape. Recent statistics are grim - domestic violence is up 54 percent - over 60 percent of marriages are forced.

The shelter tries to help women begin a new life. But the odds are stacked against them.

Qandi was sold into marriage to a much older man. Her brother got $3,000 for her. She was 12 - too young to be legally married under Afghan law. But no one was charged: they rarely are. Still, Qandi is determined.

"I want to do something," she said. "Stand on my own feet, to not be dependent on anybody."

But for Qandi and so many others, these are anxious times for women, caught between wanting an end to war, and worried that women's rights will be the price of peace.

"Afghan women have suffered a lot. It's time to stop. How much suffering can they endure?" asks Naderi, the school director.

Despite the pressure and the intimidation, many girls and women are refusing to give up. For Shamsia and her family, education means a better life for the next generation.

"I hope to be able to persuade other girls to go to school too, so that to me, is hope. Its all I can do," Shamsia said.

More from The Road Ahead Series

Petraeus: Afghans Call Shots in Taliban Talks
Petraeus on Taliban Negotiations
Petraeus: More Work Needed on Afghan Timeline
Gen. Petraeus on July 2011 Withdrawal
Petraeus Talks about Challenges in Iraq
Petraeus: Iraq 'Much More Hopeful Place'
On the Afghan Frontlines with Gen. Petraeus
Transforming the War in Afghanistan
The Plight of Afghan Women
Final Thoughts on Afghan War
High-Tech Help for Clearing Afghan IEDS
Advanced Weaponry Removes IEDs
Crossing the Deadly Afghan Roads
Bomb Disposal Expert's Cheat Sheet Tattooed on His Arm
Deadly Job of Bomb Disposal
The Most Dangerous Job in Afghanistan - Clearing IED's
Afghanistan's Most Dangerous Job: Finding IEDs
Ahmed Karzai: No Proof in Criminal Accusations
Overcoming Corruption in Afghanistan
Training Afghan Recruits, Behind the Scenes

[mary-miami]

Get Well Soon, Lara Logan. Journalists do a job that is essential to a free society. They should all be thanked more often. Thank You!

[amadeusyaztremski]

Too bad these women can't ban together and start throwing acid in
the crotches of the nut case men who think they are superior because of their gender. I don't think the women in most other countries would
ever have let things get this bad for themselves. Every time I see a
woman in a Burka in the grocery store in America, I want to go shake her
and tell her she doesn't "have" to submit to that nonsense. Just me.

[bankersvox]

Where are the so called "progressives" and KPFK crowd in supporting this war ?

[QuoteTheRaven]

? ? and the women of Islam shall rise up against their enslavers and bring a terrible wrath upon the men of Abraham, and the world shall be made right.?

QuoteTheRaven ? Nevermore!

[Yrral01]

When are we going to admit that the so-called taliban are nothing but savages?

[QuoteTheRaven]

Just common-day thugs is a better term.

[OnTheRoad01]

Yes, they are, but and it is a very big but, as long as the fathers, mothers, brothers sit on their hands and do not stand up for their daughters there is really not a lot that this country (the U.S.) can or really should do. I am sorry about these young ladies, but if their own relatives don't care enought to do something just what makes you or anyone else think that there is really anything that this country can do?????

[KARL296]

@ democracy5, diana234, Aine57, and URunderarrest:
I want to thank you all so much for proving my point for me. My colleagues wouldn't believe me, but now my wager is well won! So one last time - Bye bye Miss American pie.

[QuoteTheRaven]

Thank goodness -- your dissertations were sooooo boring.
Bye bye KARL296.

[Yahu777]

to quotetheraven - sounds like your jealous to me!

[wyodutch]

Ask the families of the four U.S. troops killed yesterday in Afghanistan... Whether the "rights" of Afghani women were woth the lives of their sons.

[KARL296]

NOW we are at the heart of the matter! Let all of these feminists go to Afghanistan and FIGHT for Afghan "women's rights"! See how long before the Taliban have them in their harems or in a grave!

[Yahu777]

the feminists dont fight - they just rag on everyone! youll never see them pick up guns and go fight anyone!

[joerynk]

Hello! N.O.W...... are you there.......Where are you? National Organization of Women. Gloria Steinem, where the hell are you FRAUDS?
http://political-lobotomy.blogspot.com/
Extracting The Mental Illness Of Progressive Liberalism

[wyodutch]

How Afghanistan treats its women is none of our concern.
.
This story is simply another propaganda piece to justify our continued occupation of Afghanistan.

[KARL296]

Ahhh. At last, someone who sees through all of liberal hype!

[OmegaWolf747]

After all the crimes they've committed, both domestically and abroad, why is there even talk of negotiating with the Taliban?

[KARL296]

Because they're kicking our butt?

[QuoteTheRaven]

KARL296 makes me laugh! As I remember, we kicked the Taliban from power in Afghanistan nine year ago with a minimum of effort. They are such losers!