The attack on Oct 09, 2012 on Malala Yousafizai by a suspected Taliban gunman in Pakistan attracted the attention of the whole world. Even President Karzia denounced the attack on Malala and asked from the government of Pakistan for a cooperation to fight against extremism both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan.

In spite of years of U.S. and Afghan military offensives, just two years before NATO forces are due to pull out from the region, the rise in insecurity and violence against women have both increased, that has worried the whole nation.

In most bordered areas of Afghanistan, the practice of tradition and cultural barriers has excluded the rights of both women and children. They still go through stone-age and experience the worst faces of violence and discrimination.

As of now, most peaceful provinces in Afghanistan turned under the influence of Taliban. They are on their way to rock back the country with bloodshed, discrimination and violence once again. Anyone who strives for his/her rights to education or take initiative for the good of their nation are always under attack by these extremist groups, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The attempt to murder justice is not just in Pakistan to happen with Malala and alike, but also has a long destructive root within Afghanistan, which is still one of the most concerning point to its people.

Since long, the women in both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been under extreme attacks by the extremist groups and yet none has been brought to justice by the government bodies. There are always convenient talks and promises by the authorities but the government has completely failed to fulfill them.

According to a recent report in Tolo, the violence against women is much greater than what is reported or known by the country's judicial bodies. The killings of the provincial head of the ministry of Women rights affairs in Afghanistan, including the wild public execution of Najiba who was accused of adultery and the attack on Malala in Pakistan are the evidences to the ground realities in these two countries.

According to Ms. Rashida Manjoo, the UN's Special Reporter on Women Rights, it is hard to accept that these are isolated incidents, arising suddenly and unexpectedly, but are rather the extreme manifestation of pre-existing forms of violence experienced by women in most provinces which are not even reported. She further stressed that women suffering various and intersecting forms of discrimination can't even reveal the truth with the media and other working bodies due to extreme restriction at certain levels.

The women activists in the country are helplessly calling upon the international community's mutual-aid and cooperation in capacitating the Afghan women so that they would be able claim their rights after the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the region while reading the current rise of violence against women in the country.

They are afraid that their rights and gains would be lost as the international community and U.S. forces will depart from Afghanistan. In fact, it has already affected most of the women in remote provinces. There would be further miseries in the lives of women in reference to the current ground realities as per the women's activists' prognostication. Whether labeled murder, homicide, or honor killings, these manifestations of violence are culturally and socially embedded and continue to be accepted and tolerated or justified with impunity as norms among the nations.

In fact, most of these cases are due to unawareness, as most of the women in the remote areas do not have access to or in some cases, they do not even know the judicial bodies while many incidents are never reported to the media. Women living in the remote provinces, such as Bamyan, Badghis and Daikondi don't even know where the judicial organizations are and what they do for them or what are the procedures to reach to their rights.
In my visit to Bamyan while interviewing the women, I found that women are still under the harsh scene of violence. They are still not allowed to get out of their homes for a medical treatment without a male partner. They are most marginalized and their rights are usually denied. They do not have the rights to have participation in home decision making.

Most of the mothers even don't have the right to say a single word about the future husband of her daughter when someone comes asking for the hand of her daughter. All the decisions are made by the male members of the family.

A woman sitting with her children in one of our gatherings said, "We don't see change in our life from the time of the Taliban to now. We face the same discrimination and violence at our homes as of under the Taliban's rule by our family and relatives."

She also added, "There is no special focus on women rights in our village. We haven't seen yet the government bodies to be investigating about the victims of domestic violence in Bamyan. There is no particular approach by the government departments and other agencies here to ensure effective investigations, prosecution and sanctions; guaranteeing access to adequate and effective judicial remedies; treating women victims and their relatives with respect and dignity; and ensuring comprehensive reparations to victims and their relatives, among other measures. I am sure, if the government bodies bring once these criminals to justice, ignoring the rights of women and children, Bamyan would be a safe haven for us to live."

In early June of this year, the Afghan independent human rights commission said that the abuse of women has increased since April 2012 and this needs a bold answer to be fought. Not long ago, the Taliban member shot a woman in public place by reciting the holy verses of Koran while shooting her, including the separate incident with the local clerics who lashed a 15-year-old female teen for having an extramarital relationship.

The recent case of Gulsom, an only 22-years old girl who was locked in a basement with her only two weeks premature newborn baby in northern Badakhshan province is the indicator to the rise in violence against women. More violently, the other news of a woman who was allegedly beheaded by her husband and mother-in-law in Herat Province after she refused to prostitute herself are all the indicators of the re-Tablibanization.
The states should adopt a holistic approach to addressing the gender-related killings of women in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

To that end, the government and other working bodies must ensure effective investigations, prosecution and sanctions that guaranteeing access to adequate and effective judicial remedies, treating the victimized women and their relatives respect and dignity and ensuring comprehensive and holistic approaches to guide the victims to the government related departments. They should be supported, educated and capacitated to be self-reliant in the fight for their rights so that to live in peace with justice and enforce the government authorities bring those fundamentalist groups to justice, that are against women rights.