400 women held in Afghanistan for 'moral crimes' such as fleeing domestic

[Sugarcane]

400 women held in Afghanistan for 'moral crimes' such as fleeing domestic abuse

KABUL, Afghanistan -- For Afghan women, the act of fleeing domestic abuse or forced prostitution may land them in jail while their abusers walk free, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday.

Running away is considered a "moral crime" for women in Afghanistan while some rape victims are also imprisoned, because sex outside marriage -- even when the woman is forced -- is considered adultery, another "moral crime."

"From the first time I came to this world my destiny was destroyed," 17-year-old Amina, who has spent months in jail after being forced into prostitution, told researchers from Human Rights Watch.

Despite progress in women's rights and freedom since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, women throughout the country are at risk of abduction, rape, forced marriage and being traded as commodities.

It can be hard for women to escape violence at home because of huge social pressure and legal risks to stay in marriages.

"The treatment of women and girls accused of 'moral crimes' is a black eye on the face of the post-Taliban Afghan government and its international backers, all of whom promised that respect for women's rights would distinguish the new government from the Taliban," the New York-based group said.

"This situation has been further undermined by President (Hamid) Karzai's frequently changing position on women's rights. Unwilling or unable to take a consistent line against conservative forces within the country, he has often made compromises that have negatively impacted women's rights."

The rights organization said that there were about 400 women and girls being held in Afghanistan for "moral crimes", and they rarely found support from authorities in a "dysfunctional criminal justice system".

'He will kill me'
The plight of a woman called Nilofar illustrates the problem. She was stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver in the head, chest, and arms by her husband who accused her of adultery for inviting a man into the house, the rights group said.

But afterwards, she was arrested, he was not.

"The way he beat her wasn't bad enough to keep him in jail. She wasn't near death, so he didn't need to be in prison," the prosecutor of the case told Human Rights Watch.

The dire treatment of women was the main reason Western countries gave for refusing to recognize the Taliban government as legitimate when it was in power.

As Afghan and Western leaders seek a negotiated end to more than 10 years of war, the future for women is uncertain.

The United States and NATO -- who are fighting an unpopular war as they prepare to pull out most combat troops by the end of 2014 -- have stressed that any settlement must ensure the constitution, which says the two sexes are equal, is upheld.

A law, passed in August 2009, supports equality for women, including criminalizing child and forced marriage, selling and buying women for marriage or for settling disputes, as well as forced self-immolation, among other acts.

But women, especially in rural areas, lack shelters to flee abuse while only one percent of police are female, according to the report based on interviews from October to November with 58 women and girls as well as prosecutors, judges, government officials and civil society.

Social stigma
The ordeal for women does not stop with jail though.

Once leaving prison, women and girls face strong social stigma in the conservative country and may be killed in so-called "honor killings".

"I just want a divorce. I can't go back to my father because he will kill me. All my family has left me behind," 20-year-old Aisha, who was sentenced to three years for fleeing an abusive husband she was forced to marry, told researchers.

World News - 400 women held in Afghanistan for 'moral crimes' such as fleeing domestic abuse

 

[Baby Leone]

WTF is this....?
this is totally BS

yes fleeing from domestic abuse should be crime,

womens should beat those who abuse them

 

[Dance]

Even if you have a boyfriend or talk to a boy you can be put into jail.

This documentary was talked about that:

 

[Zarvan]

Even if you have a boyfriend or talk to a boy you can be put into jail.

This documentary was talked about that:

Sir in Islam you can't have a boyfriend for boy friend yes you can be flogged but talking to man for reason not but dating in public than you are in trouble

WTF is this....?
this is totally BS

yes fleeing from domestic abuse should be crime,

womens should beat those who abuse them

Sir I think I should remind you in most cases man are far more physically stronger than the women you know what will happen if a women hits back when a man is already really very angry I think you can imagine the Islamic Way is you go to a Qazi and have divorce and Qazi will order her husband to immediately divorce her and if he doesn't listen than Qazi automatically can nullify the Nikah

 

[Zarvan]

Hijabi mother

The death of a 32-year-old Iraqi woman, who was found at home severely beaten in the head with a note telling her to “go back to your country you terrorist”, has caused shock across a country still reeling from the death of a young black man in a hate crime in Philadelphia.

Shaima Alwadi was taken off life support on Saturday, four days after the crime occurred in her home in San Diego, California. The mother of five is believed to have been beaten to death by a tire iron according to her 17-year-old daughter who was interviewed by a local TV channel. In the video that has gone viral on social media, the young girl makes an emotional plea and asks why her mother was taken away from her.

Mrs. Alwadi had received a similar note earlier at home but she dismissed it as a prank.


Shaima Alawadi
“A hate crime is one of the possibilities, and we will be looking at that,” Lt. Mark Coit was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “We don’t want to focus on only one issue and miss something else.”

Alwadi’s death comes at a time where the death of a young black unarmed man, Trayvon Martin, shot by a white security guard of a gated community in Florida, has unleashed a storm on race issues in the United States.

The marches across the country on Friday were dubbed “Million Hoodie Marches” in honor of the 17-year-old Martin who was wearing a hoodie when he was shot last month. Demonstrators said the death is a reminder of the discrimination that takes place against blacks by law enforcers.

Martin was on his way home from the grocers when he was spotted by a member of a neighborhood watch group George Zimmerman who called the police to report what he said was a suspicious man on drugs. Despite being told by the police to stay where he was, Zimmerman followed Martin and claims to have shot him in self-defense.

Martin’s girlfriend, who was on the phone with him, however, says that she heard Martin being shoved to the ground and cries for help before shots rang out.

Zimmerman has avoided prosecution due to his claim of self-defense reported the Telegraph on Saturday. His current whereabouts remain unknown.

U.S. President Barack Obama weighed in on the controversy on Friday urging people to “soul search” as he called for a thorough investigation into the case and described Martin as his son.

“I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative to investigate every aspect of this and that every-body pulls together - federal, state and local - to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened,” he said. “I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen.

“And that means we examine the laws, the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident.”

His words will provide little solace to the parents of Martin or family of Mrs. Alwadi still in shock over her tragic death.

The parallels between Martin’s death and Alwadi’s are easy to make and not lost on social media platforms where analogies between both victims, killed for wearing a hoodie and hijab respectively, are being made.

For Mrs. Alwadi, there is much grief being expressed as can be evidenced with the hashtag #ripShaima as they tried to come to terms with the notion that a woman could be killed in the U.S. for wearing a hijab.

The note’s threatening element of “return to your country” has caused equal amounts of outrage, with many people across social media scoffing at the notion since the basis of the United States centers on migrants.

One Twitter user by the handle XChristelle wrote: “’Return to your country’? The USA is composed of migrants who massacred a people to steal their land. Who must return now?”

(Editor’s Note: In our story, we listed George Zimmerman as a security guard when that is not the case. The error has since been rectified and is regreted.)

 

[lvwilly]

Women in Afghanistan have a long way to go but I'm afraid it will be awhile before they make any progress.

 

[Sugarcane]

Sir I think I should remind you in most cases man are far more physically stronger than the women you know what will happen if a women hits back when a man is already really very angry I think you can imagine
......

Man's manhood is not that much stronger and there are examples when women have taught good lesson. period