Participants of a conference about judicial process in Balkh have urged the parliament not to repeal the draft law on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW). Organized with the support of the UN office in Mazar-e-Sharif, the conference discussed implications of the EVAW law, saying it could reduce the tragic scale of violence against women. They urged the parliament to approve the law to help reduce domestic violence.
Participants were mostly court judges and lawyers. Most criticized the Lower House debate against EVAW, saying it will make the situation much worst with increased violence against women. They urged the parliament to approve it.
After the divisive highly fiery speeches by some MPs during the debate about EVAW, it has been feared that the draft could be rejected by the parliament.
It is tragic that some people take it their granted right to be the self-declared guardian of Islamic values, while their knowledge does not stretch beyond the traditional basic understanding. Without a professional religious expertise, how can they even bother to get such sentimental and provocative? The answer is simple: such fiery speeches have appeal to the larger illiterate and religiously easy to be provoked masses, and goes well as a populist appeal.
Earlier, the UN has also urged approval of the law saying its rejection could cause serious increase in violence against women and its implementation could reduce that.
The draft law has four chapters and 44 articles. The drafting has been done with input from religious experts and scholars. Most of the criticism are baseless and for political appeal, or ignorance. There should be a special joint commission with members from all other house commission to study the draft and give their final review, rather than making it go through review by all commissions separately.
Despite being effective through the Presidential decree, the EVAW has been rarely implemented in individual cases. It has been largely bypassed. We hope the draft would be approved by a majority vote and the government would strictly implement it. There are traditional and informal mechanisms of justice where they do not give a damn about human or women rights. Even in Kabul, many cases of serious crimes under the EVAW law have been prosecuted under the Penal Code or Shariah law. The social curse of violence against women is a national tragedy in Afghanistan and there should be serious effort to change it.