Despite all the efforts of the Afghan government, civil society and the international community, Afghanistan continues to be considered one of the most insecure places on Earth for a woman to live. Both men and women are affected by the lack of human security in the country, yet women and girls are still disproportionately affected by violence that is rooted in distorted and harmful traditional customs and practices supplemented by weak governance and rule of law.

Ending violence against women in Afghanistan is a multifaceted challenge. Its broader repercussions, as well as some contributing factors are often overlooked. Winning the battle for the complete elimination of such violence, will require the removal of the barriers that limit, and in some cases prevent, administration of justice for to gender based violence, whether at home or in the public sphere.

In many cases of domestic violence, neither the perpetrator nor the victim realises that a crime is being committed. Moreover, there are cases where women victims themselves are being accused of moral crimes. Therefore, awareness raising on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law and other legal instruments remains an important and necessary weapon in the battle to end gender based violence.

Although there are specialised facilities for women affected by gender-based violence, access is a real problem. The Afghan National Police runs Family Response Units (FRU) and there are secondary facilities through the of Ministry of Women's Affairs, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and Attorney General's Violence Against Women Units that can offer help in reporting a crime. Nevertheless, cultural restraints might prevent the victim from leaving the house altogether and the precarious security situation often puts the victim in further danger when venturing out. The logistical challenge of reporting a crime, especially if the mahram (male guardian) of the victim is also the perpetrator, is often too big to overcome.

When the victim arrives at a police station, she often faces law enforcement officials who lack the knowledge, the capacity and even the will to deal with gender based violence appropriately. There are currently 347 police officers working in Family Response Units in Afghanistan and approximately 1500 female police officers in the ANP. The Ministry of Interior has setan ambitious goal to employ 5000 female police officers by the end of 2014. Filling these positions is an important indicator of the ANP's capacity to provide gender responsive security.

Yet we also need to debunk the myth that women have a form of inherent gender awareness just because they are women. Gender alone does not prevent a female police officer from treating a rape as a case of adultery, or the act of running away from an abusive husband as a moral crime. But even if the goal of recruiting 5000 gender responsive female police officers were fulfilled, the police force would remain dominated by men. Awareness, combined with capacity and will by all members of the ANP and justice institutions to address gender based violence, is the ultimate guarantee of the implementation of EVAW- law.

Police stations need to provide both physical safety and the sensitivity not to compromise the integrity and reputation of the victim. Problems arise especially when there is need to collect forensic evidence and when the victim of a crime has no safe place to stay after reporting the crime. The 23 shelters that exist in Afghanistan are clearly not sufficient and there is a dire need for short term shelters for victims of crimes since the Family Response Units are not equipped to provide a safe place to stay overnight because female police currently do not work night shifts.

As gender based violence happens mostly in private sphere and witness statements are often missing or distorted, the capacity to use physical evidence in investigations and prosecutions is central. Forensic collection and analysis skills need to be tied with an understanding of the EVAW-law, lest the evidence of rape be used to turn a victim into a perpetrator.

Most reported domestic violence cases are settled outside of court through mediation by FRUs between the victim and her family. Some of the shelters are committed to following up domestic violence mediation cases to make sure that the abuse does not continue and the victim has quick access to a shelter in case the pattern of violence recurs. Police, however, have neither the human resources nor the mandate to provide such a service, which would be more suited to social workers.

When deciding to report gender based violence, very often the victim is faced with a choice of detrimental consequences. Even if she manages to overcome all the hurdles described above and the legal process results in a just conviction by a competent court, the victim might lose her social networks and family, including her children, in the process. Her financial safety net might crumble and life as a female divorcee without male relatives can be difficult beyond our imagination.

The work of the EVAW commission on the national level, contributes to enhancing the accountability and predictability of the actors involved in investigation and prosecution of gender-based crimes. The establishment of another 17 EVAW provincial commissions needs to be supported, otherwise high level coordination efforts will not translate at the grass root level.

The expertise of civil society should be fully utilized by the authorities and the Afghan media needs to report more openly on cases and, more importantly, on their root causes, to transform gender-based violence into an topic of public debate instead of private family matter, which is a taboo.

Lastly, the international community must listen to all relevant Afghan partners to ensure that our support is addressing the issue of gender-based violence in a comprehensive way.
Ultimately the Afghans will have to find the pieces of this puzzle and put them together in a way that is culturally acceptable, respectful of human rights and sustainable in long term. The EU is firmly committed in supporting Afghanistan and its ongoing efforts to eliminate violence against women.

[Information on the European Police Mission in Afghanistan]
The European Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL Afghanistan) was launched by the European Union in 2007 to train and mentor police officers, trainers, senior ministerial officials and criminal prosecutors in Afghanistan. It currently employs 550staff, of which 350 are European police and civilian experts.