Domination of the Taliban group, increase in family violence and women's lack of access to judicial institutions

Report: Fariba Faizi

Before the Taliban came to power, thousands of women every year went to the courts, legal and judicial authorities, legal advisors and advocates and other institutions to support women's rights because of family violence. But the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in the middle of August. took over and since then they have significantly limited women's rights.

Sara "pseudonym", a human rights activist in the southwest of Afghanistan during the republican period, he had many human rights activities and especially many activities and achievements in the field of women.

For five years, he has been a defense lawyer and legal advisor in the field of family violence, especially violence against women, and has been in many departments such as: the Secretariat of the Civil Society of Afghanistan, the representative of the youth of southwest Afghanistan in the Youth Parliament, a legal advisor for women in the Women's Affairs Commission in Supreme Peace Council, university professor, and deputy of political participation coalition in 34 provinces of Afghanistan through the Promote project, which has been the voice of Afghan women and in this way addressed women's problems and cases of violence against women.

According to Sara: "After the Taliban government took office, I lost my duty and had to stay at home due to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban, but this was just the beginning of the difficult days of my life, because when I was on duty, I I had financial independence and I didn't have to rely on my husband for daily expenses or financial matters, and because my husband and I both had duties, our life was going well."

Sarah adds: "But after I had to stay at home, my husband also became unemployed, and it caused us to face severe economic problems, to the point where I used to sell dry bread from my house and when my daughter fell ill, I used to get medicine for her, because of the problems. Economically, I had to argue with my husband and because of this I was beaten by my husband, on the other hand, my husband's family was happy about our situation and provoked my husband against me, and this caused my husband to beat me more. He beat me and even once tried to strangle me with a belt, which later I was able to escape with the help of neighbors."

Sara continues: "On the other hand, I have now noticed the negative effects of my family violence on my daughter, she has no appetite, she is always afraid in her sleep and does not sleep regularly, she is stressed and sometimes violent words and violent movements that My husband repeats what happened to himself or while playing with other children, so my daughter's mental health is really worrying for me.

However, research shows that family violence, in addition to the negative consequences for the victim of violence, causes a weaker presence of women in society and the workplace, and has negative social and political effects, for example, it reduces the desire to participate politically. public and role-playing as a responsible citizen.

Shirin Tharnwal on the prevention of violence against women in the previous government of Afghanistan says: "During the republic, women's rights were highly valued and there were many authorities in the field of preventing violence and dealing with cases of violence against women".

He adds: "I worked on various cases as the head of prevention of violence against women, women came to the center from the farthest parts of the districts to file complaints, cases of violence such as murder, beating, self-immolation, suicide, escape from I would examine the house, marriage or forced marriage, sexual assault, etc., so that the perpetrator of the case would be punished for his actions, and in some cases, women would give up on the progress of their case in the last stages due to the intervention of the elders and the regret of her husband. However, their voices were heard and their cases were investigated in order to reduce family violence."

Shirin continues: "But now, due to the lack of justice and judicial systems and a specific department to deal with cases of violence against women, women in Afghanistan are very seriously and worryingly under violence and family pressure, and fearing for their lives even They don't raise their voices, the families where violence is going on are also sure that in such situations no one hears the women's voices and women's rights have been violated by the Taliban and the Taliban's restrictions against women have increased, so if in the past statistics Family violence used to be 50%, now it is 100%, and unfortunately this situation is alarming.

After the presence of the Taliban, many women who worked in private and government institutions lost their jobs. A large number of women were the head of the family, who were exposed to multiple harms by losing their jobs. Men who are no longer working and are forced to stay at home, often use verbal and physical violence against the women of the family.

Ismail Khan, one of the experts in the family violence department, believes that: "In the past, if there was family violence, it was mostly due to the families' lack of knowledge about women's rights, but after the Taliban took over, the increase in the number of family violence was more due to the unemployment of men and Women are coming back, since women do not have the right to work outside the home and have stayed at home, and men alone cannot be responsible for household expenses, or they do not have jobs due to the economic situation of the country, so economic problems have increased among families and It has caused family violence, the victims of which are mostly women, but this violence is not limited to this. Other important factors cause these violence to continue, the most important factor in the continuation of these violence is the disorderly state of the government, poverty, unemployment and the absence of justice and judicial institutions.

Sara says: "It has become difficult for me to live under the shadow of Taliban rule and there is no authority to share my problems with them or file a complaint, and I am forced to remain silent and the physical and psychological violence from my husband And I will tolerate what my husband's family is doing for the sake of my daughter and the elders of the family and those who stand in the way."

He adds: "I know other families in which women are facing severe family problems and violence after the rule of the Taliban, and especially because of economic problems, they are subjected to physical and mental violence, and although they still have duties, Again, they do not have the right to spend their livelihood and all their livelihood is taken from their husband and their husband's family and they cannot file a complaint because there is no institution or authority to record these violence and women and their families fear for their lives and dare to speak out. They don't have the choice and prefer to remain silent."

Despite all this, Sara has been able to stand up to the problems and hope for a bright and not-so-distant future, she is trying to find a solution to get out of this situation and continue her life together.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most severe examples of gender inequality, which is often considered as a violation of human rights. This problem exists at the global level and especially in underdeveloped countries, and it creates extensive negative consequences not only for its direct victims, but also for children, family members and communities.