KABUL (SW) – The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a latest report that Afghan women and girls are being failed by the country’s justice system with their access to justice for crimes of violence remaining tenuous.
The report, titled, “In Search of Justice for Crimes of Violence Against Women and Girls,” examines the response of the justice system and the redress provided to survivors in reported cases of violence against women and girls in the period between September 2018 and February 2020.
In this report, the UNAMA found that only half of reported crimes reached a primary court, with perpetrators convicted in around 40 per cent of all documented cases.
“The stark reality is that too many women and girls still fail to see justice for the violence they experience, and impunity remains far too common,” said Deborah Lyons, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
One in every five women in cases documented by UNAMA decided not to pursue their case through justice channels by either not filing a complaint or later withdrawing it. The failure by State authorities to pursue crimes in such cases is particularly disturbing in cases of child marriage, as victims are unlikely to be able to independently seek recourse from the system. UNAMA monitoring underscores how many women resort to self-immolation or suicide due to violence, suggesting they feel that the justice system does not offer a realistic path to escape.
UNAMA called for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW Law) to be amended to expand authorities’ powers to investigate and prosecute all crimes in the Law and for strengthened institutional responses to crimes of violence against women and girls.
Throughout the global campaign for 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence from 25 November to 10 December, the United Nations in Afghanistan is calling on everyone – national, provincial and local authorities, community and religious leaders, and individual Afghans – to increase efforts to prevent and redress violence against women and girls.
ENDS
