Calls for an end to violence against women

Afghanistan’s government is preparing to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Friday with a further call to raise awareness. Although the plight of Afghan women has improved somewhat following the collapse of the hard line Taliban regime in late 2001, acts of intimidation and violence against them have continued unabated, with many women - particularly in rural areas – believing that their situation remains unchanged. “Islam and the current laws of the country strictly condemn violence against women, which is one of the false traditions of our society,” Masooda Jalal, the country’s Minister of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), said, calling on people to recognise the extent of violence against women in the country. While domestic violence has traditionally been a problem in conservative Afghan society, more than two decades of brutal civil war have also fuelled the problem. “People should know that violence against women brings about murder and suicide in their families,” Jalal maintained. But that challenge won’t be easy and resources for the problem remain limited. There are just four shelters for women in the country, all in the capital, providing refuge to more than 100 women and girls. Supported by different agencies and the MoWA, the confidential centres are designed to provide protection, accommodation, food, training and health care to women who are escaping violence in the home or are seeking legal support due to family feuds. “Often they are introduced to the MoWA by the office of the attorney-general or supreme court, while sometimes they come directly to our ministry,” Shakila Afzalyar, a legal officer at the ministry, said at the time. Women interviewed at the shelter said they had broken no laws, but were fleeing from brutality or forced marriages. Afghanistan’s new constitution guarantees equality before the law for men and women, but the reality, the women point out, is very different. One girl at a shelter, Paikai, just 12 years old, said she had been compelled to marry the brother of her fiancé, who died before marrying her. In another dramatic example, a local prominent poet, Nadia Anjuman, 25, died after a serious assault in her home in the western city of Herat in early November. In an effort to mitigate such incidents, the women’s ministry has launched a nationwide awareness campaign to end violence against women in post-conflict Afghanistan, with vehicles covered with posters of acts of violence against women on the streets of the capital and other cities. “We launched a nationwide campaign a week ago to make people aware of the rights of women and to end violence against them,” Noria Banwal, head of economic development department for the ministry for women said, adding the campaign would continue until 10 December. The period from 25 November to 10 December - International Human Rights Day - has been designated as 16 days of global action on violence against women. “We want the international community to support us in our campaign on violence against women and send us their messages of cooperation,” Banwal added.