Justice for women goes for a toss as Taliban gains control of Afghanistan

As the Taliban continues to gain control over Afghanistan, violence against women and justice goes at risk.

Afghan women have been confronting domestic violence for quite a while in the country. The Human Rights Watch observed that limited enforcement of the landmark Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law had left many girls and women with no route to get justice or protection.

A Human Rights Watch report states that the Afghan government’s inability to give accountability for brutality against women has impaired the process to secure women’s rights. The report is based on 61 interviews conducted with women who made complaints about various crimes.

As the United States troop withdrawal ends, it makes the prevailing women’s rights situation uncertain. 

The report expressed that with the Taliban making extensive territorial gains, the possibility of a Taliban-dominated government also endangers constitutional and international law protections for Afghan women’s basic rights.

When an Afghan woman decides to file a complaint under the EVAW law, she faces opposition. Often, the spouses of ladies are forced to return home or reconcile with their husbands. A lady in Herat whose spouse beat her said her family elders told her that the husband had such rights when she made a complaint.”

The EVAW law, declared by the president in 2009 and reconfirmed in 2018, makes 22 acts of injustice toward women, including assault, battery, constrained marriage, keeping ladies from acquiring property, and forbidding a forbidding from going to class or work. 

Despite opposition from conservative society inside the Afghan parliament and judiciary, the law has added to some real advance, working with an ascent in detailing and examining rough violations against ladies.

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Human Rights Watch associate Asia director Patricia Gossman said, “Global donors need to reinforce their commitment to ensuring Afghan ladies is caught between government inaction and extending Taliban control.” 

“Governments that have since quite a while upheld women’s rights in Afghanistan should advocate strongly for implementation of the EVAW law, which has driven sluggish however real change, she added.” 

Women’s rights organizations and various civil society groups have raised concerns that there will be less global help for the support and training expected to secure and fortify the execution of the law for ladies. 

The growing Taliban impact and control and the chance of a future coalition government with lawmakers have elevated feelings of insecurity among Afghan women rights advocates that enacting the EVAW law will be at risk.