Tease and harassment of Women

The women are the vulnerable layer of our society, who faced many problems in different regimes of the history, lack of awareness regarding the human rights among the people of the society has caused that the women are not understanding about their rights.

As it is said that the past wars, current instability, illiteracy, lack of laws implementations and in total lack of taking responsibilities in the government institutions are the reasons which caused the violation of the human rights in Afghanistan.

During the last ten years many institutions with the help and support of the international community is serving in creating the sense of women’s right in the country and different laws like the law of prohibition of violation against women are also endorsed by the parliament of the country. But the worrying point is the lack of implementation of these laws by the relevant authorities.

Violence against women has different types where we can classify into physical, lack of access to education, lack of access to the social facilities, tease and harassing and many more.

Among the problems that has put the women in problems; teasing and harassing is the most prominent example in the streets and bazar. This action is not considerable to some of our people in the society; where this offensive action has caused the most of the families are not letting their daughters and women going outside the borders of home, as a result a big violence is imposed on the women.

If the women are not going to schools, institutes of the higher educations and also job in the society; then this is not only seizing their God gifted rights but it mutilated half of the members of the society.

It is said that the real cause of these malformations in the country is because of the lack of implementation of the laws in a uniform way on all the members of the society. Until the law is not seriously implemented not only the problems of the women and girls are solved but these problems will conquer all the dimensions and layers of the country.

The independence human rights commission is one of the institutions working for conveying the human rights issues in the society and is consisting of different sections, one of the branches of this commission is the women’s support section; for this purposes we have conducted an interview with Mr. Maryam Zurmati, deputy in charge of the women’s support section of the human rights commission, which is going to be presented by me (Masoud Ansar) to you dears audience.

Question: Ms. Zurmati; based on your views from which dimensions mostly the women are harassed?

Answer: In the society that we are living; the most prominent types of harassment that they are facing are physical tortures, mental tortures and as well as sexual harassment or rapes.

And also it is to mention that among these entire psychic teasing and harassments the offensive behavior of our people in the society is playing a vital role.

Question: How you are evaluating the reason of teasing and harassment of these women and girls in our society?

Answer: Our country has passed many years war and you better know that war brings mostly negative cultures in the societies; where we have also not remained unaffected. As most of our people raised in war situation and they have come to this world with enmity; therefore these enmities and violence leads them to do offensive behavior with the subordinates.

Question: Ms. Zurmati; you have talked about the lack of security, based on your views, is the lack of social awareness from each other right is not causing the teasing and harassment against women?

Answer: Yes, whenever in a society the education, good relationship among the members of the society and many other aspects are mutilate then without doubt that there would be teasing and harassment against women in the society.

There is no doubt about the issue that you have mentioned has its effects, lack of public awareness, lack of security in the society and whenever people doesn’t know about the mutual rights of each other, mutual respects and mutual behavior with each other; these reasons results that the vigorous category force to tease and harass on the weak category.

Question: How do you evaluate the role of parents in reduction of teasing and harassment of women and girls in the society, if they have advises to their kids and or to the whole members of the family and have well guidelines for them; won’t it be effective?

Answer: Yes, the guidance of parents for their children and or for the whole members of the family has a positive effect in their steerage and finally it could reduce the teasing and harassment of girls and women in the society, but this point should never be forgot that the society is formed from these families and if in the families the men look at the women as the second class and don’t respect them then obviously their children will also grow with the same spiritual and are causing problems in the society.

Question: Ms. Zurmati; is teasing and harassment of women and girls are considered as violence against women or not?

Answer: teasing and harassment of women are with doubt considered as the violence against women and the law based on the type of violence set punishment to them.

Question: Based on your views; why some of our young people in the society tease and harass the women and girls where they also belong to a family and they also have mother and sister?

Answer: to the point of my understanding; here the mental and psychic problems of the people in the society is effecting, also some of our people are doing these actions and creating problems because of the sense of elite category.

The other issue which is considerable here is the imitation of media programs, education, foreign culture, character and behavior of the foreigners and many other issues that we are copying but these have not match in the framework of our culture.

Question: Well; is teasing and harassment of women in the streets results that they won’t go the education centers and other institutions?

Answer: without doubt that women and girls because of the teasing and harassment of men are not benefited from many of their rights and facilities, for example; whenever the head of the family or father is facing an incidence outside the home that the boys or men are teasing and harassing the girls; where this teasing and harassment is by hand or tongue it directly affect the girls of the family, because when the fathers see such problems then they think how to solve this problem and finally they conclude with them that their daughters should not go to school and other educational institutes, should not study and be busy in some good activities outside the home; where the legal right of this category is totally violated.

Question: Previously you have mentioned about the copying or imitating the customs and cultures of the foreigners, in our society some of the girls by wearing and copying the cloths of foreign culture become attractive, isn’t these kinds of imitating or copying is not the cause of their teasing and harassment?

Answer: Yes, wearing clothes in our backward society is extremely effective and if the girls and women are not wearing clothes based on the Afghan culture and Islam then for sure they will be teased and harassed, but what is important is that our women have their Islamic way of wearing where they are totally covered but because of the lack of awareness of the culture and the effects of the foreign cultures they are attracted to copy from the foreign people.

From the other side, always the girls and the women are targeted that they are not wearing the proper clothes but never someone criticized the boys that why they are wearing the clothes that are not in our custom and culture.

To the point of my understanding; what is important is to keep all of our body covered means that our heart should be in veil, our eyes should be in veil and these should be in our control where whatever is happening against our culture and balances of Islam do not devious us.

Question: Based on your views; what is the solution of these problems in the combat culture, what ways should be considered that all the girls and boys are well aware of these problems. Also what would be the job of government institutions and Ministry of Culture in this regards?

Answer: One of the ways is that if a person is teased and harassed by the people, the law should punish him based on what punishment is predicated for this crime until this punishment become a lesson for the doer and for the others so that they not attempt such actions.

The Ministry of culture has the duty to control the broadcasting of such programs which are against our Islamic course and learning. Also the ministries of education and higher education should include the topics in the educational curriculums so that the youngsters not move to astray.

Question: As a final question I would like to ask, based on your views which ways can help and guide us to the right direction and success?

Answer: Based on my views; the religious scholars are very much effective in this regard, as the people living in this country are the religious and cultural people and they respect the words of the religious scholars; if the scholars be able to define the value of human and their rights and beside this they mention the rights of each and every person then it covers the rights of women which will have good effects.

From the other side; if the security people saw the cases of violence against women and they could perform their responsibility in a proper way and the law is implemented on all of them properly, also the media do visible activities in this regard then without doubt it will have its positive effects on these issues.

With many thanks from you dear audience; you stayed until the end of our discussions with us, until the next discussion good bye and God bless you all.