Life during wartime: women and conflict in Afghanistan.

Abstract

The civil war in Afghanistan has caused women to suffer psychosomatic disorders and trauma through the loss of relatives and sons. In addition, war-widows face new economic responsibilities for their households and often have had to deal with destruction of their homes and livestock. The women are so depressed that they can no longer enjoy social functions like weddings or trust their neighbors. The only hope the women have is in their children, many of whom were sent to the former Soviet Union to school. For many of the women, the emotional trauma they suffered and the poverty they face combine to make life an ordeal.