A look back at the year that has ended.
Shafiqa Habibi, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Union, says 1394 (Mar 21, 2015 to March 20, 2016) was both “full of achievements and challenging” for women.
A look back at the year that has ended.
Shafiqa Habibi, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Union, says 1394 (Mar 21, 2015 to March 20, 2016) was both “full of achievements and challenging” for women. “In politics, we were able to get four (women) ministers in 1394, and put women in some key political posts,” she told Killid.
In October last year, two Afghan women, Maryam Durrani and Hasina Nekzad, shared the N-Peace Awards for their contribution to building peace and transforming their communities. Durrani is the founder of Khadija Kubra and Radio Mirman in Kandahar, while Nekzad is a rights activist in Herat.
There are many other women achievers, but the continued rise in killings of women is a blot.
The AIHRC (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission) reported a 5.32 percent increase in crimes against women between 2014 and 2015.
One of the most brazen killings was of a theology student, Farkhunda, on Mar 19, 2015. She was accused of burning the holy book by amulet writers, and lynched by a mob. The cold-blooded killing sparked widespread condemnation and protests.
On Nov 4 last year in Ghor, an illegal Taleban court condemned 19-year-old Rukhshana to death. A video of her brutal death by stoning in a village on the outskirts of the city of Firoz-Koh went viral on social media. Local Taleban militants whipped the unmarried man she had eloped with.
Earlier in October in Ghor, furious men lashed 26-year-old Shringgul to death. In January this year, her husband in Faryab killed Rezgul while the Taleban lashed a man and a woman in Sar-e Pol in February.
AIHRC rued the spike in women’s murders. AIHRC’s Suraya Sobhrang, a commissioner says 5,132 cases of violence have been recorded in 1394 compared to 4,872 the previous year. Regarding murder cases, she says 241 cases were reported while the number was 162 in 1393.
The authorities in the Ministry of Women’s affairs also point to a rise in violence against women in the last year. Aziza Adalatkhwah, head of the women’s rights department in the ministry says, “In total some 3,327 cases of violence against women were recorded in 1393, in Kabul and the provinces, but the figure rose to 5,189 in the first three quarters of 1394 (from Mar 21 to Dec 31, 2015). The cases include wife beating and other domestic violence, separation and deprivation of rights.”
Hasina Safi, head of Afghan Women’s Network, also considers the year that has just ended full of violence for Afghan women. She says, “Some incidents were reported in the media like Farkhunda and Rukhshana’s; other cases are unreported by the media.”
Human rights activists hold the weak governance system responsible. Influential people corrupt the system of justice; the victims have no hope of a fair investigation and trial. Crimes are buried under piles of documents.
Civilian casualties hit a new high in 2015, and women and children accounted for 37 percent and 14 percent respectively of deaths, UNAMA’s Annual Report for the Protection of Civilians released in February this year reported.
Economic plight
The dismal state of the economy has impacted on the livelihoods of widowed women and daily wagers. Poverty has worsened. Activist Zarghona Rasa says, “Widows suffer many problems in our community.” There are no figures for average earnings and other economic indicators for women specifically. Abdul Salam Munir, acting director of Afghanistan Exports’ Development says women’s contribution to total exports remains the same but he has no figures to back up the claim.
The share of women in exports of Afghanistan was 33 percent in 1393. Women are involved in the handicraft industry including carpets and precious stones. Ali Eftekhari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled, however, says women were less affected than men by the economic crisis. In the past few years, of the 38,2760 work permits issued by the ministry, women were given 81,589.
Health
Women’s mortality rates are still of concern. Dr Nezamudin Jalil, the head of gynaecology in the Ministry of Health, says that while one woman died in childbirth and other complications every half hour previously, the situation has improved to one death every two hours.
According to Dr Jalil, pre-natal care for the mother and child has improved with 70 percent of pregnant women being checked up by health workers. The percentage was 5 percent in 2003, 13 percent in 2005, and 58 percent in 2014.
The Ministry of Health has been running programmes to train midwives to assist women in remote areas. According to Dr Jalil, 68 midwives graduated in 1394. At present there are 4,700 midwives across the country; in 2003 there were only 450.
Schools
Kabir Haqmal, the head of publication department in the Ministry of Education, believes schools have succeeded in ensuring girls who enroll do not drop out. The rate of enrollment is 42 percent. “We ended the year with 10 million children in schools; more than 4 million girl students remained despite the numberless challenges. Our effort is to raise the numbers,” he says. UNICEF estimates that some 3.5 million children are illiterate in Afghanistan, 60 percent are girls.
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