15 year-old, Freshta, tells her story below – Photo by Gaia
Last weekend, legislation that would have guaranteed a basic level of human rights to women in Afghanistan was blocked by religious lawmakers, soon after being introduced. The lawmakers said parts of the legislation would violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience (that word was hard to type).
Here are the current legal crimes against women, which the new law would have changed:
Forced marriages and child marriages: The blocked bill would have permanently made 16 the legal age to be married. For example, 15-year old, ‘Freshta’ escaped marriage to a man more than twice her age. But she has been cast out of her home and worries that her little sister will be forced into the fate that awaited her. “I am educated, that is why I could refuse my parents’ decision. But my sister is only 13 years old, and they will marry her with that old man,” said Freshta with tears in her eyes.
Using girls as payments to settle financial disputes: The law bars the practice (baad) of using girls to settle disputes. Currently, a girl may be traded as payment to settle a financial dispute, or as a means to avoid larger or longer-lasting arguments and grudges.
Penalizing rape victims: The law would have blocked charging unmarried victims of rape and sexual assault with adultery or fornication. Here is one story by a 22-year old woman known as, Gulnaz. She was found guilty of ‘adultery by force’ following the brutal attack in 2008 that left her pregnant. She was sentenced to two years in jail, which was later increased to 12 years on appeal. A first release offer, which she eventually agreed to, stipulated she must marry her attacker. Gulnaz married her rapist.
Domestic Violence: The law wishes to make domestic violence a crime punishable by up to three years in prison: Domestic violence in Afghanistan is on the rise.The law introduced included charging men for rapes committed within a marriage. The bill also contained funding for women’s shelters.
Sosan’s Story, a harrowing video from 2009, tells the story of one woman whose husband and family were trying to kill her.
Synopsis: Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, targeted violence against women in Afghanistan is back at an alarming level. Women of all ages are enduring brutal physical and sexual abuse in their own homes. A few lucky ones find their way to one of only six shelters in the country. We visited one of them.
Some would consider what Sosan had to give up in order to leave the shelter, would be too much of a sacrifice. I would agree with them, yet I cannot blame her. I blame the people in power, who allow such barbaric laws to continue.
Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative lawmaker for Herat province, said the legislation was blocked after being introduced in parliament, because of a protest by religious parties who said parts of the law are un-Islamic.
“Whatever is against Islamic law, we don’t even need to speak about it,” Shaheedzada said.
Well you don't have to speak it, Shaheedzada. You just need to shut up and listen to it, because women, though forced back down, for now, will not give up, and eventually it is tyrants like you who will fall. Women and the world, will see to it.