Pakistani Christians attend a prayer service for the recovery of teen activist Malala Yousufzai in Lahore on Sunday, November 11. Pakistan celebrated Malala Day on Saturday as part of a global day of support for the teenager shot by the Taliban.
Editor's note: Suzanne Nossel is executive director of Amnesty International USA
(CNN) -- The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai in Pakistan's Swat Valley has awakened the world to the dangers a resurgent Taliban poses to the rights and safety of girls and women, particularly those who are human rights activists like Malala.
Here is a question for Tuesday's presidential debate: Will Malala's shooting prompt concrete steps to prevent more of such attacks, which potentially affect tens of thousands of girls and women --and could seal the fate of an entire region?
Late last week, as the teenager lay hooked to a ventilator, her recovery uncertain, the Taliban pledged to come after her and her family again to punish her efforts to keep girls schools open. This is the mark of a committed foe of women's rights, impervious to how its brutality has outraged the people of Pakistan and the globe. The Taliban appears determined to extinguish women's freedom at any cost.
Profile: Malala -- Global symbol, but still just a kid
The stakes are undeniable, yet the fate of women has been glaringly absent from nearly all high-profile discussions on the future of Afghanistan and the wider region. When NATO heads of state met last May in Chicago, it was not until protests were held by Amnesty International and other groups that women were even included as full members of the Afghan delegation. Once invited into the room, Afghan women reported that they were denied a significant role in summit deliberations or decisions.
At last week's vice presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, there was extensive discussion of Afghanistan, but no mention of women. The issue has scarcely figured in President Obama's many statements and speeches about the region. As we approach the final debates of this campaign season, it is vital that the candidates answer the "Malala question."
This is not an easy problem to solve. As the United States and its allies draw down, security responsibility is being transferred to Afghan government forces without sufficient steps or resources to protect civilians. Funding for development is tenuous, at best. Institutions are weak, and outside influence by key governments and other actors is limited.
In Swat Valley, violence and harm to civilians is coming from a range of sources, including U.S. drones in parts of Pakistan. While their challenges differ, the rule of law in both Afghanistan and Swat Valley ranges from fragile to nonexistent.
But women's rights in Afghanistan and Taliban-influenced areas of Pakistan must not be written off as a lost cause. Nor is it good enough to simply proclaim that something must be done. The Taliban's siege on women puts the impressive rhetorical and legal commitments to women's rights over the past few decades to perhaps its most visible and high-stakes test. It is not just about women. Communities, local economies, indeed the entire region suffers if women are kept from contributing.
Before 9/11, the Taliban in Afghanistan was notorious worldwide for its iron, repressive rule toward the country's more than 17 million women. Women were barred from education, professions and even from leaving their homes without being accompanied by a man. Maternal mortality levels were among the world's highest.
In the decade since the Taliban's overthrow in Afghanistan, modest but key strides have been made. Today, 3 million girls go to school, compared to virtually none under the Taliban. Women make up 20% of university graduates, and their numbers are growing. Maternal mortality and infant mortality have declined, and 10% of all prosecutors and judges are women, while there were none under the Taliban.
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Securing and advancing these gains if the Taliban grows in influence will be difficult. Members of the Afghan Women's Network, a women's rights consortium, express grave concern about the future, but also fierce determination not to see the clock rolled back. They have also joined Amnesty International in outlining a specific action plan of steps that must be taken in Afghanistan that may have relevance to Swat Valley, as well.
World: Attack on Pakistani schoolgirl galvanizes anti-Taliban feeling
One of the most important of these is a guarantee of significant, secure financial support controlled by women's institutions and organizations in the region. Development funds and economic activities are being funneled through Afghan government ministries in an effort to build up those institutions. But unless local women's organizations, including those serving rural areas, have unimpeded access to steady funds, the work and influence of dozens of organizations working to promote women's education, health care, freedom from violence, economic opportunities and rights are in jeopardy. These groups and their leaders are the best bulwark against regression and deserve assured support.
As internal deliberations and political maneuvering over the region's future unfold, local actors, the United Nations, outside partners, funders and the media must keep up the pressure to ensure that women are heard around the negotiating table and within government organs in the region. Women's rights must be codified in all negotiated instruments, and existing legal and constitutional guarantees strengthened and enforced. A wide range of governments and institutions globally will continue to hold sway over subjects like the handling of terrorist militants in the region. They need to use that influence to weigh in consistently on behalf of the region's girls and women.
Critically, the number of women at all levels in national security and police forces must be increased through incentives, recruitment efforts and training to ensure that those serving in military and law enforcement roles do not suffer discrimination and can do their jobs.
The U.S. presidential candidates should endorse and Congress should enact legislation focused on addressing the threat posed by the Taliban in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan. This legislation should be tied to larger U.S. policies and appropriations in relation to Afghanistan and Swat Valley. A new law is the best way to ensure that sufficient funds are set aside and that women's rights and their status are rigorously tracked and reviewed.
Having cited the betterment of women as one justification for its invasion of Afghanistan 11 years ago, the United States needs to show that it is not turning its back on the region's women. When Malala is well enough she should be the one to decide whether she wants such an effort dubbed "Malala's law." It would be an apt naming.
Opinion: Girl's courage, Taliban's cowardice
It took a point-blank assassination attempt of a 14-year old girl to get the world to pay attention to the threat to women from a resurgent Taliban. Unless the shooting of Malala is news heard round the world, prompting sustained action in government offices, legislatures, newsrooms, U.N. halls and public squares, her fate may foretell the lot of millions of other women and girls, and the destiny of an entire region.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Suzanne Nossel.
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Pakistani Christians attend a prayer service in Lahore on Sunday. In the past month, Malala, 15, has gone from an intensive care unit in Pakistan, showing no signs of consciousness, to walking, writing, reading and smiling in a hospital in the UK.
Pakistani supporters hold photographs of Malala as they stand alongside burning candles during a ceremony to mark Malala Day in Karachi on Saturday, November 10. The teen activist was shot in the head by the Taliban as she rode home from school in a van last month. She had defied the militant group by insisting on the right of girls to go to school. The attack has stirred outrage in Pakistan and around the world.
Pakistani students shout slogans near photographs of Malala in Karachi on Saturday.
A Pakistani girl carries a photograph of Malala in Karachi to mark Malala Day.
Pakistani students attend a Malala Day ceremony in Lahore on Saturday.
A Pakistani student in Lahore writes a message on a placard on Saturday.
Indian teachers add finishing touches to a "Malala Rangoli" at a high school in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Malala sits up in her hospital bed with her father, Ziauddin, and her two younger brothers, Atal Khan, right, and Khushal Khan on Friday, October 26, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in Birmingham, England.
Pakistani human rights activists light candles during a Sunday, October 21, vigil for Malala Yousufzai in Lahore.
Students at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Lahore attend special prayers on Friday, October 19, for Malala's recovery.
Campaigners gather Friday for a vigil for Malala in Birmingham, England.
An activist with the Association for the Advancement of Feminism lights candles during a vigil in Hong Kong on Friday.
Activists light candles during Friday's vigil in Hong Kong.
Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik puts final touches on a sand sculpture in honor of Malala at Puri Beach, India, on Tuesday, October 16.
Pakistani demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against the assassination attempt by the Taliban on Tuesday in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Pakistani activists of the Islamic Sunni Tehreek party carry flags at a rally in Islamabad on Sunday, October 14.
Veiled Pakistani women participate in Sunday's rally.
Supporters of a Pakistani political party, Muttahida Quami Movement, gather during a protest procession for Malala in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sunday.
Pakistani leaders of the movement sit in front of a poster of Malala at a procession on Sunday in Karachi.
A Pakistani youth places an oil lamp next to a photograph of teen activist Malala Yousufzai on Friday, October 12, in Karachi, Pakistan.
Pakistani school girls pray for the recovery of teen activist Malala Yousufzai at their school in Peshawar on Friday.
Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher at a hospital following the attack on Tuesday, October 9. Malala was shot in the head while riding home in a school van in the Taliban-heavy Swat Valley, officials said.
Supporters hold portraits of Malala as they pray for her well-being in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Malala gained fame for blogging about how girls should have rights in Pakistan, including the right to learn.
A Pakistani Muslim prays for Malala during Friday prayers in Karachi. Malala, whose writing earned her Pakistan's first National Peace Prize, also encouraged young people to take a stand against the Taliban -- and to not hide in their bedrooms.
Supporters place candles to pay tribute to Malala in Islamabad on Wednesday.
A Pakistani female activist holds a photograph of Malala and prays for her recovery in Islamabad on Saturday.
Pakistani students pray for Malala at a school in Mingora on Thursday.
Pakistani Muslims bow their heads and pray for Malala during Friday prayers in Karachi.
Pakistani school girls pray for the Malala's recovery on Wednesday. Over the weekend, the teen moved her limbs after doctors "reduced sedation to make a clinical assessment," military spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa said.
A Pakistani female covers her face during prayers in Karachi on Wednesday.
Pakistani civil society activists carry banners in Islamabad on Wednesday as they shout ant-Taliban slogans during a protest against the assassination attempt.
Children of Pakistani journalists and civil society activists light candles in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Pakistani Christians attend a mass prayer for the recovery of Malala at Fatima Church in Islamabad on Thursday.
Pakistani Christians attend a mass praying for the recovery of Malala at a church in Lahore on Sunday.
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