Monitoring Desk
KABUL: Terming home as the most unsafe place for Afghan women, the Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan said on Saturday that incidents of violence against women had increased in the country. The Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan released its annual report about violence against women in the country today.
According to the report, 4340 incidents of violence against women were registered in Afghanistan in 1396 Afghan year. The incidents were related to 3386 people. The report stated that 2046 incidents of violence were registered in Afghanistan last year. It showed that violence against women had increased by 11.7 percent.
According to the report, 32.7 percent physical violence, 5.3 percent sexual abuse, 30.3 percent verbal and psychological torture, 10.3 percent economic and 14.4 percent violence were witnessed in the country in 1396 Afghan year. The report stated that 277 women were killed in Afghanistan last year. The killing of women showed an increase of eight percent, it added.
The Human Rights Commission said that 228 incidents of sexual abuse, 118 verbal disputes, 749 economic matters and 626 various kinds of violence were registered with the information desk of the commission in 1396 year. It included depriving women of choosing their husbands, forced marriages and banning women from meeting their relatives. Violence affected the cultural, economic, social and various other sides of women’s lives, the report stated. It included psychological matters, lake of caretaking, suicide attempts, quitting education, abandoning homes, leaving jobs, separating from husbands and other such matters.
Most of the incidents related to violence against women occurred in the environment of homes, the report stated. According to Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan, home is the most unsafe place for women in society. Violence had occurred against women in streets, roads, work place, hospitals, education institutes and prisons, the report stated.
Men were declared as responsible for over 90 percent of violence against women. Similarly, the report blamed women for 4.3 percent violence against women. The elements responsible for 5.4 percent violence against women were declared to be unknown. Traditions, weak writ of the government in districts, biased attitude towards criminals, misuse of prisons, lack of access of women to courts, lower ration of education, poverty, joblessness and other such affairs were termed as the main reasons of violence against women.
In the report, the Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan has presented some proposals to stop violence against women. It included increasing awareness among women, providing jobs, increasing writ of government, access to cases, increasing the number of women in security forces and easy access of women to justice and judicial entities.
