Victims of brutal violence

Sitara’s addict husband cut off her lips and nose. Shakila was killed by a warlord in Bamyan. Ayesha’s fingers were dipped in acid. The instances of brutality towards women are countless in the country.

Sitara’s addict husband cut off her lips and nose. Shakila was killed by a warlord in Bamyan. Ayesha’s fingers were dipped in acid. The instances of brutality towards women are countless in the country.
Ali Bonyadi, social analyst and journalist, wonders how violence has become embedded in society when it is anathema to Islam and Afghan culture. “The tyranny (on women) shows we are wolfs in human clothing,” he rues. Cases of barbarism have been reported in recent months from Herat, Baghlan, Jozjan, Daikundi, Ghazni and other provinces.
Zahra Mosawi, a women’s rights activist, believes the roots of the violence lie within customs in traditional Afghan culture. In an open letter to President Hamid Karzai she wrote: ” Being a woman means rejection, isolation, elimination and neglect… The culture of fanaticism your government has encouraged has decreased the value of a woman. When a woman resists the inhuman dominance and fanaticism her nose and neck are cut off…”
Women’s activist Dr Hamida Wardak believes the government, parliament and civil society institutions all have a duty to ensure justice for victims of violence. There has to be awareness about the rights of women. Special courts need to be set up to fast-track crimes against women. The enforcement of laws to protect women will be a deterrence to violence, Wardak believes.
Member of Parliament (MP) from Herat Ahmad Behzad echoes her views. The violence is growing because of the failure of the judicial system, he thinks. There must be justice for Sitara, a resident of Herat, he appeals.
A new UN report says 650 cases relating to violence against women are being investigated by the police and Attorney General’s (AG) offices. According to UN officials, most cases of crimes against women unfortunately end up before local jirgas and not the government’s justice system.
Spousal violence at the hands of addicts
The MP from Herat, Behzad, believes Sitara’s case – her nose and lips were cut off by her abusive addict husband – is not unusual. He describes the horrifying crime as a “burning social plague” that so far has been “unpreventable” in families of drug addicts. He urges “continued cultural and educational” work to fight the violence. 
Mubarez Reshedi, acting minister of counter narcotics, also has the same view. He told the Ministry of Counter Narcotics to provide funds for Sitara’s treatment. Also, he said since there was need for taking precautionary cultural and educational measures at different levels, he called on the media, educational, cultural institutions and families as “custodians of the generation of today” to take part in controlling drug addiction.  
Studies by the UN show a link between rising addiction and worsening violence. There was a reported 36 percent increase in cultivation of opium in the country. The growing population of addicts includes men, women and children.
The Afghan Women’s Network has appealed to the government and international community to protect women in remote areas of the country. More shelters need to be established to assist women and girls who flee forced marriages and brutal domestic violence. The outlawed practice of Baad continues to be widely practiced. Last week, Killid published the findings of an investigation by the Independent Media Consortium on how decisions of local jirgas are against women’s rights, and the Sharia.
A new report published by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has revealed that the instances of violence against the women have increased 25 percent this year.
Meanwhile, there is good news about Sitara. She will be treated by doctors in Turkey.