Violence, discrimination and alienation against women appear to get stronger in Afghanistan. The cases of rape in the country is widespread and go under-reported, often not concerned even by the society and institution or other humanitarian organizations. This leads us to the story of an only 6 years old innocent girl who has been recently raped in Takhar province. The report is more shocking than today's suicide blasts and killings or other shocking stories.
The report says that a 6-year old girl who was raped by some men in Takhar province was not alone, including two other small girls and a woman. While talking to media she was crying and said, "The violence against women and small children like me is just accelerating and here we are the clear examples. Mostly it happens with the families like me who has no one to take revenge or stand for justice since the government always keeps quite which is an indicator of self-involvement in such cases."
According to a field research conducted last year by Norah Niland, the United Nations human rights representative in Afghanistan, "There is no boundaries for rape in Afghanistan, crossing all communities and social groups with little to no consequence for perpetrators."
such silence of the government against violence and discriminations targeting small girls in Afghan society further strengthens the criminals and warlords in the region. Today the women and girls are even not secure at their homes, in their villages and in detention facilities because for the criminals and warlords, the law is like a handy tool in their hands as we clearly observe the consequences on the ground realities.
What is so worst here is that the victims of rape often find themselves prosecuted for adultery; a crime that is punishable by Jail isn't even threatened for that non-humanitarian act. This provokes the criminal networks to continue making the women suffer in many other ways.
On the other hand, majority of women in the region are illiterate. A very less number of women can read and write while on the other hand, Islamist insurgents often destroy girl's schools to stop them from getting education. After all, 57% of girls are married under the legal age of 16 and the country holds the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world with nearly 25,000 deaths every year which is considered to be advertent genocide. Under the recently adopted Afghan constitution, the citizens of Afghanistan whether man or woman has equal rights and duties before the law. These words should not be meaningless in practice in the paper but rather the law for both men and women must be respected.
Finally, Afghanistan is a war-torn country on many fronts. Women's rights need to be concerned and there must be a proper plan to end their war and allies to help them win. The war against women in Afghanistan is a war we must not lose. It is more than enough for the Afghan women to wait for appropriate position in the country.