Sexual Violence And Gender Based Violence Against Women And Girls

In Afghanistan, Women’s rights were very denied and completely dismissed. Women were treated horribly. They were beaten, abused verbally, and even killed. Under the rule of the Taliban, women were better off staying in the safety of their own homes.

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.

Figure 2. Violence Against Women in Pakistan in 2013. Adapted from “Life For All Pakistan: 3 Rapes in one week” William, X. P. (2014 April 29), by the Las Vegas

Novels, fictional or nonfictional, can be used to express opinions in ways that are complex. Stories allow authors to convey a message through the lives of the characters. More specifically, renowned authors Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, and Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, use the stories of several characters to communicate their opinions regarding various social issues such as child abuse, mental instability, capital punishment, and gender inequality. Although both authors never directly state their opinions about the issues, they use the character’s experiences to demonstrate their arguments. Even though In Cold Blood is a mystery novel about a murder, author Truman Capote focuses on the actual murderers throughout the majority of the story.

In 2010 a young Afghan women had her nose and ears cut off. Aesha Mohammadzai, first appeared on the cover of time magazine in 2010, shared her story on how her husband and in-laws cut off her nose and ears as punishment for trying to run away. Mohammadzai said: “Every day I was abused by my husband and his family. Mentally and physically; Then one day it became unbearable so I ran away." Three years later Mohammadzai began her reconstructive surgery. Aesha Mohammadzai now lives with a foster family, and is studying English in school. A true inspiration to Afghan women, Aesha Mohammadzai tells women who are being abused to stay strong and never lose hope (Phillip Caulfield.2013). This is just one of the many common punishments Afghan women receive. Mohammadzai is proof that still in today’s society women in Afghanistan are still suffering with extreme punishments. The life expectancy for a woman in Afghanistan is 44, one of the lowest in the world (Life as an Afghan Women.2013). Throughout the years, women have been forced to live in fear because of the way they have been treated. The consequences of punishments are not balanced with the actions that are performed, and women fight to hold their own. Afghan women have struggled with extreme, cruel and violent punishments. Women’s punishments are the result of the loss of their basic human rights.

In Afghan society, a forced marriage is when either the man or women is married against one’s will. This includes childhood brides and young women who are sold from their family in order to pay off debt. Adolescents that are forced into marriages in Afghanistan are consistently mistreated and abused in their households. In the article “Afghanistan: Women, Socially Bound and Officially Neglected”, it states how an Afghan practice called ‘baad’ has killed a 7-year-old victim. The girl had been given into marriage and was used as a slave

There was once an Afghan woman who was repeatedly raped for 5 days by a local police officer. The police officer got his justice by being locked up, but the Afghan woman is now in hiding in fear of being punished by the other local policemen. This is just one sad story of what an Afghan woman has to go through on a daily basis. Stories like this are happening because of the results of the Soviet-Afghan War. Before the war, Afghanistan was a fairly free place. Women could go out on their own, wear what they wanted, and go to university. Now they are restricted from almost anything that involves the outside world. The Soviet-Afghan War, which happened in 1979, was a war in which the Soviet Union, who did not like what was happening in Afghanistan,

The Taliban implemented laws restricting the movements and actions of women in Afghanistan in public places. While attempting to visit her child in a home for young girls, Laila is beaten within an inch of her life as a consequence of walking outside without a male escort (Hosseini). The extreme course of action, beating a woman for walking alone, demonstrates the illogical and unjustifiable actions the Taliban promotes the practice of in Afghanistan. The women and men have dramatically unequal rights.

I do not agree at all with how women are being treated in Afghanistan. They are being put in jail for getting out of bad situations and the government is calling it “moral crimes.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that reporting if someone’s husband raped me is a crime against his wife. In the article, it says, “A woman named Gulnaz was jailed and sentenced to 12 years in prison after reporting she was raped by her cousin's husband. Her daughter was the product of the rape.” That is absolutely ridiculous. Why should that poor women be punished because her husband decided to rape her cousin’s cousin? If I was her, I would fought for my rights even if it killed me. It’s also disgusting how women are forced into marriage, then thrown

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread human rights violations. It stems from social structures and traditions rather than individual random acts. It cuts across age, socio-economic, educational and geographic boundaries; affects all societies, and is a major obstacle to ending gender inequality and discrimination globally. The violence women face can be physical, sexual, verbal, and any other form that abuses power and control, which can make them feel insignificant. With dealing with all these negative aspects of violence why is it the case that women continue to stay? In Gender and Women’s Studies in Canada: Critical Terrain by Margaret Hobbs and Clara Rice, there are eight key reasons why women would stay in an abusive

In conclusion, women in Muslim culture, especially in Afghanistan, have been violated of their right to a safe and free life. Hopefully the way men treat women in these societies changes for the better. As humans, people all know what is morally right and are capable of treating each other fairly, and if everyone were to act this way, the oppression towards women may be

pushed to the lowest form of living there is and that is truly sad. The Taliban men

Afghanistan is by far one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman. During the rule of the Taliban in 1996 until 2001, women were treated with the upmost disrespect, worse than during any other leadership in the history of Afghanistan. They were living in a misogynistic society were they were confined to living in a house unless escorted by a male companion. They were not able to work or allowed to seek medical assistance from a male doctor. Under the Taliban regime, women are also forced to cover themselves completely from head to toe, even covering their eyes. Not only have these women lost their self worth but they have also lost any ounce of self-identity they had left.