Barbara Walter’s of Televisions 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan – several years before the present conflict. During the course of her story she noted that women still walked five paces behind their spouses.

On a recent return trip to Kabul she noted women still walking behind their husbands, despite the overthrow of the Taliban regime. In fact she reckoned women were distancing themselves even further from their husbands.

Ms Walters approached one Afghani woman and asked “Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried desperately to change?”

The woman looked Ms Walter in the eye and without hesitation replied, “Land Mines”.