In every society there are a set of rules that you have to abide by till you become an acceptable person in that society. These rules are written or unwritten. Written regulations are the laws or codes that provide by government and violating them have certain punishment. However, the unwritten rules are not actually laws but they are the customs and traditions of a society that commonly observed by community and disregarding these rules may cause irritations. Here in Afghanistan we have a number of unwritten rules in which control our lives. Among afghan families these unwritten rules are dominant, maybe they are right or wrong but family members should respect them.

One of these rules is that the elders in the family decide for the younger’s future. For example, sons and daughters do not let to make decisions for their marriage and they cannot select their spouse. In this regards, elders of the family such as grandfather, grandmother, father and uncles gathered and select a mate for boy and especially for girls. In many cases they don’t even see their husband/wife until the wedding day. If anyone reject or ignore this rule, he/she will punish by family members.

Another rule in our society is that generally women in afghan families do not allow to work outside of home. They believe women are second sex (gender) and they cannot do what men do. They are only responsible for housekeeping and breeding children. There is a belief among afghan people which women’s working outside of home is a shame. Today many afghan women work in the society but the fact is that the community is against them and recognizes them as lawbreakers. Some of them punishes badly on behalf of their families.

As you see, these traditions and accepted customs as unwritten rules control our lives

In our country, similar to other countries, there are some differences between written and unwritten rules. Women’s right is protected in written in every regulation around the world and Afghanistan as well but among people, women’s rights are easily violated according to rules that are not written. In conclusion, I believe that if unwritten rules become written rules, governments can apply them to societies with more ease and less obstacles.