As coronavirus spreads across the country and an imposed lockdown continues, a fertile ground for deepening different kinds of violence against women has been also created, says the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Lack of access to transportation, the closure of some offices and a poor security have kept many cases of violence against women unregistered and restricted women’s access to women rights organizations, said officials in the ministry.
High unemployment, poverty and economic stagnation, poor security and war in the country are considered the main causes of violence against women, according to the authorities.
The spread of the novel coronavirus and meanwhile a nationwide lockdown brought a rise in cases of violence against women, said Roya Dadras, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, adding during the COVID-19 lockdown, as many as 600 cases were registered in the ministry.
Out of the total cases recorded during the lockdown period, 23 were the worst, and included murder, suicide, hanging, physical abuse and home runaways, she added.
The Afghan Attorney General’s Office (AGO), however, said it had addressed the reports of violence against women.
Jamshid Rasooli, a spokesman for the AGO, acknowledged ending violence against women as a priority for the Attorney General’s and added that the agency had addressed 1,173 cases of violence through law in the first six months of the year.
Rape, murder, physical abuse, harassment as well as forced and child marriages, were the major cases of violence, Mr. Rasooli continued.
Meanwhile, women who have been the victims of violence claimed that women’s economic dependence was the principle cause of violence against them.
A victim of the domestic violence who spoke in a condition of anonymity reported being more than ten times physically abused by her husband as country has gone into lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.
She didn’t file any complaint against her husband due to social and traditional norms, she added.
Afghanistan, a worst place to be a women, sees a ramp up in cases of violence against women, as recently the body of a women hanged in a house in Khwaja Rawash townlet of the capital Kabul was found and is believed to be executed by his husband.
