Afghan Womens’ plight getting worse

Womens’ plight getting worse
KABUL (Agencies): A leading rights group Monday accused the Afghan government of failing to protect women from endemic violence such as rape and murder and from discrimination, warning that their plight risks getting worse. The US-based Human Rights Watch urged world powers to stay focused on women’s rights in Afghanistan as President Barack Obama deploys an extra 30,000 US troops as part of a revamped strategy to fight the resurgent Taliban. “Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, women and girls suffer high levels of violence and discrimination, and have poor access to justice and education,” HRW said in a 96-page report. “The Afghan government has also failed to bring killers of prominent women in public life to justice, creating an environment of impunity for those who target women,” it said. Banned from public life under the iron-fisted Taliban regime from 1996 until the 2001 US-led invasion, women still struggle for their rights in the impoverished, deeply conservative and war-torn country. HRW said gains made since 2001 in areas such as education, work and freedom of movement are under serious threat as the Taliban insurgency gains ground and fundamentalist factions in government strengthen. “The situation for Afghan women and girls is dire and could deteriorate,” said Rachel Reid, Afghanistan researcher at HRW. The rights group highlighted a catalogue of abuse of women — death threats and intimidation, murders of several high-profile figures, gang rape and young girls being forced into marriage. But it said the attitude of the courts or police was often hostile towards women, with the government failing to prosecute the perpetrators of attacks. In addition, it said, “studies suggest that more than half the women and girls in detention are being held for ‘moral crimes’, such as adultery or running away from home”.