KABUL (SW) – A number of women addicted to drugs in Kabul city say that they turned to addiction due to economic problems and that addiction has messed up their lives.
29-year-old Rahela, one of the drug addict women who is now undergoing treatment at the special treatment center for drug addict women in Kabul, says that her husband uses drugs and he also made her use drugs. Rahela, who has nowhere to go now, spends day and night in this treatment center with her three children.
She says: “They can’t keep me here for long. When my 45 days of treatment are completed, I am free to go, but I am afraid of my husband. I have no place and any job; I can’t go from here. What will happen if I live on the roads? I have no home or shelter.”
Zainab is another resident of Kabul, who has been using drugs for two months. Similarly, Zohal has been using drugs for four years. Both of them are now in a special treatment center for addiction treatment. They say that they would like to stop using drugs and live like normal people and return to society.
Zainab says: “I am happy that I came here. This was an experience in my life. I want to tell others that it is useless and don’t use drugs.”
“I hope to get well and live with my family as a healthy person. I want to study again. I don’t want to turn to drugs anymore,” said Zohal.
Shayesta Hakim, head of the 150-bed special treatment center for women’s drug addiction in Kabul, stated that family violence and gender discrimination are among the most important factors of women’s addiction to drugs.
Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, says that 10 treatment centers have been established throughout Afghanistan to treat women addicted to drugs.
Meanwhile, international organizations have warned that the number of women addicted to drugs in Afghanistan is increasing.
