Feminist Peace Network

According to Al Jazeera,

“A recent editorial in the government-owned Kabul Times offered a stark reminder of the widespread acceptance of violence against women in Afghanistan. The editorial, which ran four days after International Women’s Day on March 8, was titled “A few reasons for violence against women.”

“We always condemn men who beat their wives or sisters … but overlook what some women do to invoke men’s ire. To begin with, there are numerous obstinate, groggy, nagging, quarrelsome, stingy and arguing women in this country who disturb the peace in their families. When they get charged they go on and on till they provoke their husbands to beat them black and blue.”

The apparent justification of violence against women was written by Abdul Haq, the English-language newspaper’s editor-in-chief. The acting editor, S. Ghiassi, told Al Jazeera that Haq could not comment on the issue because he was ill and hospitalised.”

Unfortunately, that attitude is all too indicative of the reality of women’s lives in Afghanistan and the violence that is perpetrated against women has nothing to do with how they conduct their lives. Rather, its cause lies in deep-rooted misogyny that continues despite the so-called liberation of Afghan women.

“A Unifem study, based on a primary database of violence covering 21 districts over a year-and-a-half during which 1,011 cases were registered, found that most of the cases of violence were a result of forced marriages.

The report also stated that the incidence of forced marriages is as high as 70 to 80 per cent, while 57 per cent of marriages are estimated to be before the legal age of 16.”

“Afghanistan also suffers one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates – one woman dies every 29 minutes during child birth – and a female literacy rate that stands at 15.8 per cent, nearly half that of men.”

“A United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) report cites documented cases of women who were killed after returning home.

“The initial violence is compounded by further violations of the victim as she approaches or comes into contact with different institutions of the State of community,” the report stated.”

“When the women or girls seek recourse from the government, they are further molested by the government representatives” and “most of the time women who report incidents of violence to the police end up in prison themselves”.

“An earlier report by the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also found that the majority of women prisoners in Afghanistan were being held for violating social, behavioural and religious norms.

Suzana Paklar, the head of Medica Mondiale, an NGO that provides support to women in war and crises zones, told Al Jazeera: “There is systematic oppression of women based on the deep-rooted belief that women have a lesser value.”

A woman is perceived as an ‘it’ rather than a ’she,’ Paklar said, adding that the problem in addressing the issue of violence against women in Afghanistan is that “we don’t have real options to offer women”.

“There is nothing really functional as protection,” she said.

The strong shame associated with a woman leaving her home, even if as a victim of abuse, makes reintegrating into society and family nearly impossible.

If she returns home, the victim may be killed. If she does not return home, it is likely she will face more violence as a result of being an ‘unattached woman’.

Currently, Afghanistan has only short-stay provisions for emergency cases, most of which do not allow women to keep their children.”