Women in Afghanistan suffer some of the worst human rights violations in the world. As a recent Human Rights Watch report signifies, the situation for women is dire, and risks becoming worse. Among many atrocities:

 - Over 87% of women face physical abuse, rape, or forced marriages.

 - Only 4% of girls make it to 10-12th grade.

 - Women in the public sphere are targeted by threats of violence, violence, and assassinations.

 - 57% of marriages are classified as child marriages (under the age of 16); 70-80% of these are forced.

Now that Obama has signaled his commitment to remain in Afghanistan through 2011, this is the time when we should act to help these women. As the Human Rights Watch states:

 "While the world focuses on the Obama administration's new security strategy, it's critical to make sure that women's and girls' rights don't just get lip service while being pushed to the bottom of the list by the government and donors."

If you believe that women's rights should be a priority of our Afghanistan policy, sign this petition to tell the President and Congress to keep their promise to Afghan women.