11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Shari’a does not punish spousal rape; often difficult for women to proof that they were raped; social stigma for victims ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 24093]

"The law criminalizes rape, which is punishable by death, but under the Shari'a, which the country's laws draw from greatly, the criminalization did not extend to spousal rape. Under the Shari'a, rape cases require that a woman produce multiple witnesses to the incident while the man need simply claim that it was consensual sex, often leading to an adultery conviction of the victim. Adultery is defined in the Penal Code and was designated a crime; premarital sex is not designated a crime, but local officials often considered it a "moral" offense. According to the MOI, 260 cases of rape were reported during the year; however, the actual number of cases generally was believed to be much higher. Of the reported cases, 146 were of rape against females and 114 were of rape against males. The MOI reported 409 arrests in connection with rape cases. Statistics on convictions were unavailable. Rapes were difficult to document in view of the associated social stigma against victims. Female victims faced stringent societal reprisal, including being deemed unfit for marriage or being imprisoned. In 2006 the AIHRC reported a case in which a girl was raped by her brother. A resulting pregnancy forced the girl to reveal the incident to her parents. In order to save the family's reputation, the parents killed the girl by setting her afire. At year's end authorities had not investigated this case."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Authorities rarely prosecuted violence against women; no laws against domestic violence; societal acceptance of domestic violence ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 24094]

"Authorities rarely prosecuted abusers and seldom investigated complaints of violent attacks, rape, murders, or suicides of women. If cases came to court, the accused were often exonerated or punished lightly. There were no regulations explicitly outlawing domestic violence and no accurate statistics for the number of women affected by domestic violence. The director of the Women's Skills Development Center, which ran a shelter for victims of domestic violence, noted that it occurred in most homes but went largely unreported due to societal acceptance of the practice. Domestic violence usually consisted of the beating of women and children and, less often, the burning of women by other family members. During the year the AIHRC initiated additional efforts to collect statistics on violence against women. In a one-month pilot project 96 cases were reported in the cities of Kabul and Kandahar, compared to only 362 cases reported through existing channels nationwide."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Kabul: Information on shelters for women escaping domestic violence; many women who could not find a place in the shelters ended up in prison ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 24095]

"According to IRIN, four shelters in Kabul were home to more than 100 women and girls. The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) and other agencies supported the centers, which were designed to give protection, accommodation, food, training, and healthcare to women who were escaping violence in the home or were seeking legal support due to family feuds. According to the MOWA, up to 20 women and girls were referred to the MOWA's legal department every day; however, space at the specialized shelters was limited. Many of the women who could not find a place in the four secure hostels in Kabul ended up in prison. One shelter in Kabul reported that while it only had capacity for 20 women, it held 26 women and eight children during the year. Approximately 120 women and girls passed through the shelter seeking refuge since its opening in 2003."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Reporting of domestic violence and help for female victims of violence were still not widely accepted in society ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 24096]

"The concept of women's shelters was still not widely accepted in society, as many persons treated them with distrust and did not understand their utility. As a result, many of the shelters were not in publicly disclosed locations. Policewomen trained to help victims of domestic violence complained that they were instructed not to do outreach to victims but simply to wait for victims to show up at police stations. This significantly hindered their work, as reporting domestic violence was not socially accepted. On January 24, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) reported that a new Family Response Unit dealing with family violence, children in trouble, and female victims of crime started operating in Kabul. It allowed policewomen to address violence and crimes towards women and children; interrogate, detain, and investigate female suspects; and provide support to female victims of crime and ensure the security of women."

Document(s): Open document

11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

In 2007, 45 honour killings were documented by the AIHRC; the unreported number was believed to be much higher ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 24099]

"The AIHRC documented a total of 45 honor killings throughout the year; however, the unreported number was believed to be much higher. In February in Herat Province, a man beheaded his 15-year-old daughter after she was accused by locals of adultery. Although police detained the man following the crime, there was no evidence at year's end that he had been prosecuted. In December 2006 media outlets reported that villagers in Kunar Province killed a boy and girl for having illicit sexual relations."

Document(s): Open document

02.2008 - Source: Womankind Worldwide

Report on situation of Afghan girls and women seven years after the Taliban regime (security situation; violence against women; women's political and civil rights; legal framework) ("Taking Stock Update: Afghan Women and Girls Seven Years On") [ID 25157]

Document(s): Open document

12.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Data on self-immolation, suicide, escape from the family, forced prostitution and addiction to narcotics caused by domestic violence against women ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Afghan Asylum-Seekers") [ID 22668]

"In addition to forced and early marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape, trafficking of women and children, and honour killings are some of the most egregious types of violence perpetrated against women in Afghanistan. The majority of women both in rural and urban areas are faced with domestic violence. Research conducted by AIHRC on domestic violence shows that more than 50 percent of women, in addition to suffering from other types of violence, have been beaten. Domestic violence not only has serious physical and psychological effects on women, but also causes other serious problems such as self-immolation, suicide, escape from the family, forced prostitution and addiction to narcotics. Statistics compiled by the Commission indicate that from 22 August to 30 December 2005, 462 women resorted to narcotics due to domestic violence. According to evaluations by AIHRC, self-immolation and killing of women in the western and southeast areas of Afghanistan are the nation’s highest, with 150 cases of self-immolation identified in the western area and 34 such cases identified in the southeast area. Escape from home, which is another issue caused by domestic violence and family restrictions against women, is mostly witnessed in south and southeast areas. In 2006, 200 such cases from Kandahar, 17 cases from the southeast, and 12 cases from the east of the country were reported. During 2005, the Commission identified 197 cases of suicide attempts in Herat out of which 69 cases ended in death. Similarly, 35 of such cases were reported from Kandahar province. Evaluations by the Commission show that most of these cases are caused by domestic violence against women. In most of the provinces, domestic violence may result in forcing women into prostitution. The Commission’s office in the eastern zone has identified six cases of women trafficking and 20 cases of women traded for narcotics in Helmand province alone during 2006. Similar cases occur in most parts of Afghanistan. Furthermore, non-awareness and difficulty for women and girls in accessing their legal rights provide a conducive environment for polygamy and domestic violence against women."

Document(s): Open document

12.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Traditional gender order, lack of protective social mechanisms and of the rule of law as well as poverty and insecurity are the main reasons for violence against women in Afghanistan ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Afghan Asylum-Seekers") [ID 22738]

"Self-immolation continues to represent the most desperate measure used by Afghan women to put an end to situations of extreme violence. The current trends in violence against women in Afghanistan cannot be solely reduced to culture and tradition without consideration of the conflict and post-conflict situation. Four factors underlie women’s vulnerability and the perpetuation of violence today: (1) the traditional patriarchal gender order; (2) the erosion of protective social mechanisms; (3) the lack of the rule of law; and (4) the poverty and insecurity in the country."

Document(s): Open document

12.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

In almost all reported cases of violence against women the perpetrators were male family members; however, most women do not report violence, due to fear of reprisals, lack of support ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Afghan Asylum-Seekers") [ID 22740]

"Despite not having access to all parts of the country, AIHRC registered 1,545 cases of violence against women from January to November 2006, including self-immolation, exchange of girls in the context of dispute settlement, forced marriages and sexual violence. With 200 complaints, forced marriage was the largest category. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs recorded more than 500 cases of violence against women, including 197 cases of self-immolation in Herat Province alone. In almost all cases of domestic violence the perpetrators were male family members. Underreporting is common, as most women do not report violence, particularly domestic violence, due to fear of reprisals, lack of systematic support and services for victims of violence, failure to prosecute perpetrators and intolerance on the part of the community."

Document(s): Open document

12.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Although a number of protection mechanism for women at risk have been established, the help for women seeking psychosocial and legal support remain limited; safe houses for women at risk currently exist in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Afghan Asylum-Seekers") [ID 22741]

"A number of activities have been initiated to establish protection and response mechanisms for women at risk. A family response unit was established in District 10 Kabul police station in 2005 to enable women victims of domestic violence and other criminal offences access to the police. A similar unit also exists in Herat and three were opened in Mazar-e-Sharif. Safe houses for women at risk, offering temporary protection and access to services, currently exist in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif. Other activities include psychosocial, paralegal, legal and medical assistance services. Apart from these very limited services in the abovementioned locations, very little in terms of protection mechanisms exist in other urban centres and rural communities for women at risk or survivors of violence. Although slowly increasing, capacity to address situations of violence continues to remain very limited in Afghanistan, in particular with regard to psychosocial support and legal representation, including access to defence lawyers. The identification of durable solutions for women who have sought refuge in safe houses continues to be very challenging. While innovative approaches are increasingly being adopted by social workers, reunification with extended family members remains the most common solution, at times resulting in renewed forms of violence. For a significant number of women, family reunification is not an option and many continue to reside in quasi-detention in safe houses with no solutions in sight, for years on end."

Document(s): Open document

30.12.2005 - Source: UN Commission on the Status of Women

Report of the UN Secretary-General on situation of women and girls (elections, activities of Ministry of Women’s Affairs, violence against women and access to justice, social and economic reconstruction and rehabilitation) ("The situation of women and girls in Afghanistan [E/CN.6/2006/5]") [#44046],  [ID 1241]

Document(s): Open document

07.10.2004 - Source: BBC News

Social norms and attitudes continue to lead to sexual violence, honor killings and destitution of Afghan women, with impunity for such abuses ("Silence over Afghan women's rights") [#26314],  [ID 1253]

Document(s): Open document

23.09.2004 - Source: ReliefWeb

Faizabad: 4 Afghan women working for foreign charity allegedly raped; 10 aid workers injured when hundreds of rioters attacked offices of FOCUS and Medair ("Rape allegations spark threats against Afghan women working for foreigners (AFP)") [#25716],  [ID 1254]

Document(s): Open document

29.04.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Nearly 90 women, mainly the victims of physical or sexual abuse, have reportedly attempted to take their lives by self-immolation in the last year ("Abused Women Driven to Suicide") [#21782],  [ID 1242]

Document(s): Open document

06.10.2003 - Source: UN General Assembly

Prosecutions for cases of rape are also extremely rare within the criminal justice system ("Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes ad consequences, on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan (A/58/421)") [#17532],  [ID 1243]

"11. Prosecutions for cases of rape are also extremely rare within the criminal justice system. This is due, in part, to a lack of capacity within the criminal investigation department to properly investigate rape cases as well as to the existing attitudes with regard to sexual offences, which act to silence the victim and the witnesses. According to statements by police and prosecutors, the results of virginity tests and statements by witnesses, if they exist, are currently the only supporting evidence for rape that can be produced before the court. Victims of rape are often reluctant to complain to the authorities for fear of being further shamed and for being prosecuted for unlawful sexual activity."

Document(s): Open document

06.10.2003 - Source: Guardian

Few cases of rape and other forms of violence are ever reported, but Amnesty says the extent of the problem emerges in hospitals ("West still failing to protect Afghan women") [#16517],  [ID 1244]

"Few cases of rape and other forms of violence are ever reported, but Amnesty says the extent of the problem emerges in hospitals, where scores of women come in with injuries sustained at home. Amnesty heard of women and girls killed by family members for refusing a father's choice of husband. A doctor in Herat reported that cases of suicide by self-immolation were running at a rate of two every week.

Amnesty says the German government, which is in charge of Afghan police reform, is not giving recruits adequate instruction on violence against women. It also accuses the international peacekeeping force of going on patrols with Afghan police and helping them arrest women for "honour crimes"."

Document(s): Open document

14.08.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

No facilities for forensic investigations that are essential for the collection of evidence in rape cases; instead virginity testing is carried out on rape victims ("Afghanistan: Re-establishing the rule of law") [#15047],  [ID 1245]

"Prosecutions for cases of alleged rape are extremely rare within the criminal justice system. This is due, in part, to a lack of capacity within the criminal investigation department to investigate rape cases properly. Currently, there are no facilities for forensic investigations that are essential for the collection of evidence in rape cases. Instead virginity testing is carried out on rape victims. The police and prosecutors stated that the results of virginity tests, and witness statements, if they exist, are currently the only supporting evidence that can be produced before the court in rape cases. However, the major factor preventing victims of rape complaining to the authorities is the fear that instead of being treated as a victim, they themselves will be prosecuted for unlawful sexual activity. Amnesty International’s interviews with women in detention highlight that there is a widespread practice of treating women victims as defendants."

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2003 - Source: European Council on Refugees and Exiles

Harassment in public places, domestic violence ("Guidelines for the Treatment of Afghan Asylum Seekers & Refugees in Europe") [#12087],  [ID 1246]

"It should also be noted that position of women has changed little despite the lifting of formal legal restrictions on their movement by the Kabul government. There is frequent harassment in public places, affecting access to education, health facilities, jobs and leisure, in a number of areas women rarely go out in public. Domestic violence is widespread and there are no effective mechanisms to seek assistance or redress. Despite its illegality, girls as young as nine years old are married without intervention by the government. Returning female head of households or single females without family to return to will have no means of supporting themselves in Afghanistan."

Document(s): Open document

12.2002 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Increasingly harsh restrictions on women and girls imposed by Ismail Khan in Herat/ abuses, harassment and other human rights violations of women and girls in several other regions as well during 2002 reported ("Afghanistan : "We want to live as humans": Repression of Women and Girls in Western Afghanistan") [#10002],  [ID 1247]

Document(s): Open document

12.07.2002 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

UN Secretary-General: Rape and gang rape, in particular of women and girls from minority communities, nomadic groups and female aid workers ("Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of women and girls in the territories occupied by Afghan armed groups (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/27)") [#8325],  [ID 1248]

"Sexual violence
16. Rape, including a significant incidence of gang rape and rape of women and girls from minority communities in the north, women and girls from nomadic groups, female aid workers and female members of aid workers’ families, has been a common and recurrent manifestation of the current insecurity. Since the Taliban were overthrown, unresolved long-standing inter-ethnic tensions and conflicts are generating important new population movements, particularly of Pashtuns from the north. Pashtuns have been subject to numerous abuses, including sexual violence, killings, extortion and looting."

Document(s): Open document
Archive.pdf

12.07.2002 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

UN Secretary-General: Women taken into custody to "protect" them from domestic violence, violent retribution from their families, and to enforce social customs and community practices ("Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of women and girls in the territories occupied by Afghan armed groups (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/27)") [#8325],  [ID 1276]

"17. Women continue to be incarcerated, often in prisons not meeting the requirements of basic international standards, for acts deemed to be social offences, such as refusal to consent to arranged marriages, running away from abusive spouses or families, and alleged infidelity. Such incidents of incarceration are attributed variously to efforts to protect women from violent retribution from their families or communities, a perceived need to enforce social customs and community practices, and an absence of social or institutional alternatives to incarceration."

Document(s): Open document
Archive.pdf

09.05.2002 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch: Situation in Mazar ("Taking Cover: Women in Post-Taliban Afghanistan") [#6893],  [ID 1249]

"In Mazar, women expressed fears of leaving the security of their homes. However, the security situation was so acute that women who had been raped or otherwise sexually abused had typically been attacked in their own homes. Some had been gang-raped. The identities of the perpetrators were difficult or impossible to discern, even to the victims. Women described attackers as men wearing traditional clothes (loose trousers and a long shirt), or a military-style camouflage jacket, sometimes carrying arms, and often with a turban pulled across their faces. Sometimes, women could identify their attackers' ethnicity by their facial features or speech, and so the armed political group to which they probably belonged."

Document(s): Open document

28.01.2002 - Source: UN Commission on the Status of Women

Fate of women left behind or abducted by retreating Taliban remains unclear ("Discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan, Report of the Secretary-General [E/CN.6/2002/5]") [#28931],  [ID 1481]

"There were also reports about women left behind by retreating Taliban, who could become victims of anti-Taliban reactions, as well as women having been abducted from the Kabul area by fleeing Taliban. The fate of these women remains unclear. According to press reports, the Minister of Justice of the Interim Administration promised to investigate cases of the kidnapping of women, but indicated that this would be difficult, as some women were forced to marry Taliban officers or were trafficked outside of Afghanistan. According to the Minister, the Taliban had regularly sold women as sex slaves to fund its regime."

Document(s): Open document