Polluters of the Profession: Women on the Bench in Afghanistan

Based on fieldwork in Kabul in 2019 and earlier periods, this article explores the positioning and experiences of female judges in Afghanistan, with a focus on the era of the Islamic Republic (2001-2021). At the end of this period, women were estimated to make up 11 percent of the judiciary — likely an historic high. However, they were located mainly at the lower courts, with a large number appointed to ‘women’s courts- family, juvenile and special violence against women (VAW) courts. With the Taliban takeover in August 2021, these modest gains were obliterated, and the majority of women judges were evacuated to NATO countries facing an uncertain existence. The turn of events was the latest of a series of dramatic shifts to the conditions for Afghan women judges over the last half century. I argue that, while Afghanistan might be understood as an extreme case of a fragile state, the key to understanding the history of female judges is not an excessive degree of ‘fragileness’ but the particular ways in which women, law and women in law have been politicized through successive conflicts.