Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: Tens of civil society activists staged protest in Kabul on Monday to condemn violence against women and seek public trial for women’s rights violators.
The activists condemned violence against women and urged the government to arrest and trial women’s rights violators in public. They chanted the slogan of ‘we want justice’ in support of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Criticizing the government for inattention in trialing women’s rights violators, members of the rally said most of cases of violence against women have not been addressed yet, and most of women’s rights violators are enjoying the culture of impunity.
Zahra Sipihr, women’s rights activist and member of the protest, urged the government to punish violators of women’s rights based on the law. “Our clear request and suggestion from the government is ensuring justice, trialing women’s rights violators and those who sexually abuse women and girls. Such people should be trialed publicly,” she said. “If this did not happen, we will witness more cases of violence against women, and women’s rights violators will become more courageous,” she added.
Civil society activists said increasing of violence against women and the culture of impunity has raised people’s concerns in this regard.
Lack of rule of law, culture of impunity, people’s low awareness about women’s rights, poverty, joblessness and illiteracy are main and basic reasons behind violence against women in the country.
Members of the rally also said that violence against women has mounted in Herat, Bamiyan, Kunduz and Takhar provinces during the past month. They said that around 4,250 cases of violence against women were registered by the human rights organization in 2014 which included honor killing, sexual abuse, torture, forced and early marriages.
The activists urged the government to prevent kangaroo courts in Afghanistan and implement the law on elimination of violence against women.
In the meantime, the Attorney General Office (AGO) said they were assessing dossiers of cases of violence against women seriously and violators of women’s rights are punished based on the law.
Radio Azadi quoted Basir Azizi, the AGO spokesman, as saying that violators of women’s rights are treated seriously. “The dossiers that have reached the AGO have been assessed which in most cases perpetrators of violence against women have been sentenced for 10 to 20 years imprisonment. At least 9,000 dossiers of cases of violence against women have been registered at the office, which is a great achievement for the AGO,” he added.
He called on religious scholars and tribal elders to pay all out efforts in eliminating violence against women in the country.
