31 October: An international womens rights group says guarantees given to Afghan women after the fall of the Taleban in 2001 have not translated into real change.
“Womankind Worldwide” says millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face systematic discrimination and violence in their households and communities.
The report admits that there have been some legal, civil and constitutional gains for Afghan women. But serious challenges remain and need to be addressed urgently, it states. These include challenges to womens safety, realisation of civil and political rights and status.
Womankind Worldwide sent a film crew to Afghanistan to investigate the situation of women there. They found a young Afghan woman crying in hospital who said she wanted to die. She was recovering after setting fire to herself.
57 per cent of girls are married before the legal marriage age of 16.
Womankind Worldwide says the Afghan authorities rarely investigate womens complaints of violent attacks. Women reporting rape run the risk of being imprisoned for having sexual intercourse outside marriage.
Although women now hold more than 25 per cent of the seats in the Afghan parliament, female politicians and activists often face intimidation or even violence.
Brita Fernandes Schmidt of Womankind Worldwide says: – My message, really, to the international community is: you need to address specific security issues for women.
– Womens rights activists are getting killed, womens NGO workers are getting killed, and that is not going to change unless some drastic action is taken, Ms Fernandes concludes.
Kilde: The Push Journal
