KABUL (SW) – Many girls and women globally, including in Afghanistan, have been struggling with domestic and social violence for decades as the world marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The day was marked on November 25 with the slogan “No Excuse Is Acceptable”.
Zia Gul, a 45-year-old resident of Ghazni who has experienced physical abuse by her husband, told Salaam Watandar: “My husband has been addicted to drugs for four years. He’s living under a bridge. Whenever he comes home, he beats me and my children, and sells household items. My parents live in Herat.”
Farzana, a 30-year-old woman from Ghazni who has also experienced physical abuse from her husband, says: “He used to beat me and our children with whatever he could find. I have a mental condition, and my head is in a bad state, you wouldn’t believe it.”
Fahima Sadat, a resident of Kabul, says that she was forced into marriage with a man whose children were the same age as her. Fahima adds that although she did not face direct violence from her husband, after his death, she was subjected to violence and abuse by her in-laws and was deprived of her rights to dowry and inheritance.
She said: “I was 26 years old when I married a man whose wife had passed away. Three years after our marriage, my husband had a stroke. 33 days after his death, my in-laws kicked me out of the house and told me I couldn’t live with them anymore, and they didn’t give me my rightful inheritance.”
Zakia Ali Zada, a women’s rights activist, says that for decades, violence against women and a culture of impunity have been ingrained as a subculture in Afghanistan. “Unfortunately, long-lasting wars and a patriarchal culture in Afghanistan have led to violence against women becoming ingrained as a subculture in both families and society.”
Officials from the Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice under the Islamic Emirate say they have achieved significant progress in preventing violence against women in the past three years.
Saif al-Islam Khaibar, the spokesperson for this ministry, says that over the past three years, 5,500 cases of forced marriages have been prevented, and thousands of cases of violence against women have been addressed.
He adds: “Since the establishment of the Islamic Emirate and the creation of the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue, we have made almost 21,000 achievements in the areas of inheritance and women’s rights. Over the past three years, the Ministry has prevented 5,500 forced marriages of women.”
On the other hand, the United Nations Women’s Agency has stated that around the world, every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by her life partner or a family member.
November 25 was designated as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by the United Nations General Assembly, based on Resolution 13454 of the UN.
