Kabul, December 08: Violence against Afghan women is “endemic” and the government is not doing much to protect them, the Human Rights Watch said in a new report.
“Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women continue to be among the worst off in the world,” said the report posted on the HRW’s website.
“Their situation is dismal in every area, including in health, education, employment, freedom from violence, equality before the law, and political participation.”
The report, “We Have the Promises of the World: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan”, details cases of rights violations against women.
“Women in public life are subject to routine threats and intimidation.
“Several high profile women have been assassinated, but their killers have not been brought to justice.”
Sitara Achakzai, an outspoken rights activist and politician, was murder last April and the government has so far not arrested any of the perpetrators. “[This creates] an environment of impunity for those who target women,” the HRW said.
It added that physical and sexual violence against women are still rife in Afghanistan.
“One nationwide survey of levels of violence against Afghan women found that 52 percent of respondents experienced physical violence, and 17 percent reported sexual violence,” it said.
“Yet because of social and legal obstacles to accessing justice, few women and girls report violence to the authorities.”
The report cites the case of a woman who was gang raped by a group that included a powerful local militia commander.
Although she fought to have her rapists prosecuted, they were subsequently pardoned by the West-backed President Hamid Karzai.
Later, her husband was assassinated.
The United Nations said last week that violence and rape against women in Afghanistan was a problem of “profound proportions”.
Forgotten
HRW said that though girl education was the declared main goal of the Kabul government and its foreign donors, girls have far less access to schools than boys.
“The majority of girls still do not attend primary school,” said the report.
“A dismal 11 percent of secondary-school-age girls are enrolled in grades seven through nine. Only 4 percent of girls make it to grades 10 through 12.”
The international rights watchdog said many girls are prodded into arranged and forced marriages.
“Surveys suggest that in more than half of all marriages, the wives are under age 16, and 70 to 80 percent of marriages take place without the consent of the woman or girl.”
HRW accused the West and the Kabul government of failing to improve the conditions of Afghan women since the ouster of Taliban in 2001.
“While the plight of women and girls under the Taliban was used to help justify the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, women’s rights have not been a consistent priority of the government or its international backers.”
The US invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime, which was accused of violating women rights.
Eight years, many believe the West has failed to put the country on the path of progress as promised.
“Women are not a priority for our own government or the international community,” MP Shinkai Karokhail told the HRW.
“We’ve been forgotten.”
-Agencies