A UN report published on Thursday made an astounding claim that women in Afghanistan were sent to prison by Taliban officials in order to 'protect' them from gender-based violence. The report said that although the protection of women is claimed, it harms the physical and mental health of survivors.
"Confining women who are already in a situation of vulnerability in a punitive environment would also likely have a negative impact on their mental and physical health, re-victimisation and put them at risk of discrimination and stigmatisation upon released," the report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.
According to the report, the Taliban sends women to prison if they have no male relatives or if the relatives are considered unsafe. The male relatives are asked for commitments or sworn statements by authorities that they will not harm a woman, even inviting local elders to witness the guarantee.
Suppression of women in Afghanistan
Women are sent to prison for their protection “akin to how prisons have been used to accommodate drug addicts and homeless people in Kabul,” the report mentioned. It also said that as compared to 23 state-sponsored women's protection centres in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power in 2021, there are none now.
Taliban officials told the UNAMA that there was no need for such shelters or that they were a Western concept. Taliban is known for the harshest restrictions on women, making it one of the most dangerous countries for females. Women are increasingly confined to their homes, barred from education beyond the sixth grade and are required to follow a dress code and a male chaperone on public journeys.
The UNAMA said that gender-based violence against Afghan women and girls was known to be high even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, BBC reported. Now these incidents have become more common due to the impact of economic, financial and humanitarian crises in the country.
The agency also noted that the Taliban government's handling of gender-based violence complaints was "unclear and inconsistent" for a one-year period since their takeover in 2021. As such, survivors of gender-based violence are reportedly more afraid of the Taliban government and their arbitrary actions and thus choose not to seek formal justice.
Women must 'accept man's world'
Earlier this year, the acting higher education minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government, Neda Mohammad Nadim, remarked that despite efforts made by Western countries for gender equality, men and women are "not equal".
"The Almighty Allah has distinguished between men and women. A male is the ruler, he has the authority, he must be obeyed, and the woman must accept his world. A woman is not equal to a man; however, they [Western nations] have placed her above a man," he said at the meeting.
Taliban employs a different interpretation of the centuries-old Sharia law, which includes public executions, amputations and flogging. Women's access to public parks has already been restricted and they now require a male guardian for long-distance travel. The harsh measures on women have triggered international outrage and concerns over human rights violations, especially in Muslim-majority countries.
Afghanistan banned women's beauty parlors in Kabul and different territories across the nation. It said that the salons offered services forbidden by Islam and also caused economic hardships for grooms' families during wedding festivities.
(with inputs from agencies)
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