(DV) Sanders: The "Freedom" of Afghanistan's Women: "In its 2004 report on human rights practices in Afghanistan, released on February 28, 2005, the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor paints a far-less rosy picture of the state of women in Afghanistan. According to the report, Afghan women continue to be raped, beaten, and kidnapped on a large scale. Precise numbers were impossible to tabulate as victims of rape in Afghanistan are stigmatized. Not only are they stigmatized, but, according to Amnesty International, Afghan women are frequently prosecuted for the rapes and sexual assaults committed against them. In Afghanistan, being raped constitutes the crime of 'zina,' or unlawful sexual intercourse.
Those women guilty of 'zina' may wind up in prison. Lucky for them, there are separate prisons for women in Afghanistan. The conditions of those prisons, however, according to the State Department, are worse than the prisons for men, which themselves are beneath international standards.
Further distinguishing women's prisons from men's is that many women in those prisons are there at the request of a family member. Their 'crimes' range from marrying a man of their own choosing to being accused of adultery. Other women are imprisoned for bigamy, which in Afghanistan means their husbands either divorced or deserted them and then changed their minds after the women remarried.
This is not to say that all women imprisoned in Afghanistan were convicted of being raped or were sent there by their families. As it turns out, some Afghan women are in prison voluntarily. According to the State Department, they chose prison over enduring rampant domestic violence or being forced into arranged marriages. Without shelters for battered women in Afghanistan, prison becomes a viable option.
Prison's not the only option, however. According to the State Department's report, a growing number of Afghan women are opting for self-immolation. By the end of 2004, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission investigated 300 cases of self-immolation. Think about it, Afghan women would rather set themselves on fire than endure their new-found freedom so lauded by the Bush administration."
Those women guilty of 'zina' may wind up in prison. Lucky for them, there are separate prisons for women in Afghanistan. The conditions of those prisons, however, according to the State Department, are worse than the prisons for men, which themselves are beneath international standards.
Further distinguishing women's prisons from men's is that many women in those prisons are there at the request of a family member. Their 'crimes' range from marrying a man of their own choosing to being accused of adultery. Other women are imprisoned for bigamy, which in Afghanistan means their husbands either divorced or deserted them and then changed their minds after the women remarried.
This is not to say that all women imprisoned in Afghanistan were convicted of being raped or were sent there by their families. As it turns out, some Afghan women are in prison voluntarily. According to the State Department, they chose prison over enduring rampant domestic violence or being forced into arranged marriages. Without shelters for battered women in Afghanistan, prison becomes a viable option.
Prison's not the only option, however. According to the State Department's report, a growing number of Afghan women are opting for self-immolation. By the end of 2004, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission investigated 300 cases of self-immolation. Think about it, Afghan women would rather set themselves on fire than endure their new-found freedom so lauded by the Bush administration."
posted by gr8fuldaniel | 12:47 PM
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