Women face violence in Afghanistan Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission By: Dr. Sima Samar APF 18th Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference 1-3 October 2013, Doha

Women in Afghanistan have been suffering tremendously from some of bad practice of traditions, misinterpretation of religious texts, coupled with male dominant society that further make the situation difficult for women.

Under the present conservative environment in different parts of Afghanistan women and girls are forbidden to go to school, universities and to work outside home, and were restricted to enjoy of their human rights.

Nevertheless, the situation is improving slowly as the country moves forward. The AIHRC, since its establishment in 2002, has been trying rigorously to protect and defend women’s rights; and this is a top priority of the AIHRC mission and strategy.

Women face various forms of violence Physical (beating, injuring, burning, poisoning, amputating, shackling etc) A girl tortured and shackled by his father in Faryab province.

Women face various forms of violence Sexual (rape, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, other types of sexual exploitations) Economic (lack of participation in family decision-making, ownership barriers, lack of provision of alimony, prevention of employment, selling women’s property without their consent, extortion of their salary by husbands and male members of the family, deprivation of inheritance etc)

Women face various forms of violence Early marriages Forced marriages including Bad & Badal Forced divorces Expulsions from home Prevention of education and access to health service Movement restrictions posed by male members of the family etc. verbal and physiological treatments

Women face various forms of violence Women and girls are victims of the armed conflict in the country. The AIHRC’s findings show that during 2012, children (girls and boys) constitute 19.5%, women constitute 5% and men constitute 62.8% of the total civilian casualties. Meanwhile, gender identity of 12.6% of the victims is not known.

Women face various forms of violence Despite that the Government policy is to promote women’s position in the states departments, but still, due to lack of political will, women have not been enjoyed of given higher official positions. Afghanistan still is very back in gender equality, this is very evident in all civil service and security departments as well as in the private sector

National Inquiry The AIHRC formulated five goals to address by undertaking the National Inquiry on Rape and Honor Killing: To collect and analyze relevant data to investigate cases of “honor killings” and rape for referring to relevant judicial offices To assess the situation of victims and future social implications To raise public awareness To recommend on amending/changing in the laws and policies

National Inquiry Performance under Inquiry More than 2000 people including representatives from the government, civil society organizations, justice and judicial organs, media, provincial councils, heads of women safe shelters, elders and influential figures participated in consultative sessions, joint focus group meetings and public hearings to discuss about cases of sexual assault and “honor killings”.

National Inquiry Public Hearing session on Rape and “Honor Killings”, Dikundi province, AIHRC, 2012.

National Inquiry 136 individuals including accused persons, offenders, victims, eyewitnesses and family members of the victims were interviewed. Almost 127 cases of sexual assaults (84 cases) and “honor killings” (43 cases) were documented. It is guessed that such cases goes far beyond but due to social taboo and lack of trust on legal system, there is no willing to disclose these cases

Findings 50 percent of “honor killings” committed for the reason of sexual relations outside marriage. Victims of rape constitute 3.8 % of “honor killings”. Close relatives of rape victim try to so-called make-up their “honor” by killing the victim.

Findings Sabro a young women from Said Karam district of Paktia province killed by her husband and his family members, AIHRC, 2012

Findings Almost 15.4% of “honor killings” attributed to women or girls who had escaped from home, which has not been stipulated as a crime in the law. 3.8% of the cases occurred for not accepting forced marriage by women; 1.9% of the cases happened to those who did marry without her parent consent.

Findings 35% of rapes against women are committed by someone known to victims. Out of this, 17% by relatives, 10% by neighbors, 4% by father, 2% by brother, 1 % by uncles, and 1% by other acquaintance.

Findings 82% of sexual assault and “honor killing” are females between 19-30 years of age. A young women killed by her close relatives in connection with "honor killings" in Faryab province, 2012, AIHRC.

Findings Rape and underage boys: under 18 years old boys have no role in honor killings, but they are responsible for 10.7 percent of sexual assaults.

Findings Connection between of poverty and honor killing and rape: AIHRC’s findings indicate that almost 17.6% of perpetrators of sexual assault and “honor killings” are laborers, 14.5% are shopkeepers, 7.6% are farmers and 4.7% are drivers. Almost 11 percent of perpetrators of such crimes are jobless people.

Findings Police: honor killing and rape Police committed 14.6 percent of “honor killings” and sexual assault.

Findings Poverty and victims: Poor women are mostly victims of sexual assault and “honor killings”. 58.2% of sexual assault and honor killing cases attributed to individuals living in poor families. Almost 38% of victims belong to middle class families. This figure indicates severe vulnerability of women in poorer families.

Findings Action for justice 91% of sexual assault and “honor killings” cases registered during this research were referred to judicial departments. Out of this, 64.5% cases have been followed up successfully; but measures taken about 35.5% of other cases are not successful.

Findings Arrestment and prosecution 67% of the perpetrators have been arrested by the police. In 60.5% of the cases, offenders have been trialed and punished, but in 39.5 percent of the cases, the perpetrators and offenders have not been trialed and punished.

What is next? Women and legislation In recent years, a major achievement for women and girls in Afghanistan was the enactment of the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW law) by the Presidential Decree in 2009. In spite of some challenges, its is being executed by judicial offices The law imposes criminal penalties for child marriage and forced marriages, domestic violence, and numerous other abuses against women.

What is next? During a parliamentary debate in May 2013, a number of Afghan MPs spoke out against the EVAW law for being contradictory to Islamic principles, while many other MPs were trying to approve the law. Following to the very frustrated debates, the law was taken out from the Lower House session’s agenda.

What is next? As part of continued lobbying, the AIHRC has been trying rigorously and engaged with key policy actors in the government, civil society and the international community to adopt the EVAW law by the Parliament without making any amendment contrary to the international human rights standards.

Let’s join together! And this is vital for securing women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan, and there is a crucial need for making strong synergy to protect Afghan women as well as other women in the Asia-Pacific region who live with similar situation as Afghan women.

Thank you!