The Independent Human Rights Commission has released its latest statistics on violence against women. The Commission says it has registered over 2500 cases of violence against women in the first four months of the current year. It further says that more than 280 women have been murdered by their family members in the past two years—in cases of the horrible honor-killing.
The Human Rights Watch has also recently expressed serious concerns about deteriorating women rights in Afghanistan. It says the government needs to take the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law very seriously. Every police officer in every district has to understand this Law and has to act immediately to investigate and make an arrest when appropriate. Unfortunately, this just does not seem to be happening in the country." HRW has asked donor countries to limit their aid to Afghanistan on condition of improved women rights. It urged the Afghan government to meet its commitments made during the Tokyo Conference. The commission has also rightly criticized the National Assembly for rejecting the EVAW law, which has not been left in a deadlock. Many MPs contested some provisions of the draft law, claiming it were against the Islamic Shariah.
Almost 50 percent of honor killings are committed as a result of extramarital affairs between a woman and a man “attempting sexual relations (Zena)”. Both cases are interconnected. Women accused of extramarital affairs are considered to bring dishonor to the family and tribe, therefore condemned to death in many areas of the country as a common traditional and cultural practice.
The victims face further issues due to the biased attitude at judicial organs of the country who also consider victims of sexual assaults as criminals and condemn them. The honor killing category is not limited to violence related to extramarital affairs, but include escaping from homes and other.
According to a recent inquiry report by AIHRC, almost 15.4 percent of honor killings documented by the national inquiry program are committed because a woman or a girl had escaped from home. Similarly 3.8 percent of the cases occurred for not accepting forced marriage and 1.9 percent of the cases happened to expressing willingness to get married to someone.
The horrifying number of honor killings is a national tragedy. Those who always beat the drums of honor and religious values should come forward against this social menace in strong terms and condemn it openly to stop such a horrible cultural practice. The Government should strictly implement laws on honor killings and punish the perpetrators of such crimes.