The Afghan Women and Girls Security Promotion Act Is Now Law

Thanks in large part to the hard work and courage of the Afghan women — supported by thousands of Amnesty International USA members like you, guests at our Congressional briefing, and participants in Amnesty International USA's XX Factor event — Senators Casey and Hutchison introduced the Afghan Women and Girls Security Promotion Act in the Senate in November.

The amended bill was included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which was recently signed by the President. It is now U.S. law!  

The Afghan Women and Girls Security Promotion Act requires the Department of Defense to report on their efforts to promote the security of Afghan women and girls during the transfer of security responsibility to Afghan forces.  

The support that this amendment received in Congress was tremendous. During the final days of the debate, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA) filed a motion to specifically instruct House conferees to include the Afghan women's bill in the reconciled version of the NDAA. The motion passed by an overwhelming vote of 399-4. Nine Members of Congress spoke on the House floor in favor of the amendment including the Republican Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon. Reps. Tsongas, Jackson-Lee, Lee, Kucinich, Schakowsky, Rob Andrews, Biggert, and Hanabusa also spoke in support of the motion.

We are thrilled with this victory, but there is still work to be done. We must continue to push the U.S. government to take concrete steps to support the rights of the women of Afghanistan and to ensure that their rights are not traded away during or after the reconciliation talks with the Taleban and Afghan government. Please continue to stand in solidarity with the women and girls of Afghanistan and take action in the fight for their rights.