Afghanistan Women Council

LATEST NEWS
November 24, 2007

Press Release: Domestic and Social Violence against Women

This month, the world marks November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Throughout the world, violence against women takes many forms – from domestic violence, to trafficking, to the lack of comprehensive health services. Afghanistan Women Council (AWC), as a human rights, a women and children’s rights organization, condemns the domestic, social, and various other forms of violence against women. All over the world, especially in Afghanistan, women face violence. We request that the world's governments, international and national organizations, United Nation’s and human rights offices, and Amnesty International work together to put an end to these violations against women.

Domestic violence is a violation of women's human rights. It is the mistreatment of a significant other or family member by someone with whom the victim has an intimate or familiar past or present relationship. This includes mates, spouses, children, the elderly, a person who has resided or is residing in the household, ex-spouses or partners and individuals who share a child. Domestic violence may include emotional abuse, physical abuse, economic abuse, sexual abuse, using children, making threats, using male privilege, intimidation, isolation, and a variety of other behaviors used to maintain fear, intimidation, power and control.

The failure to remedy domestic violence essentially denies women equality before the law and reinforces their subordinate social status. Men use domestic violence to diminish women’s autonomy and sense of self-worth. States that fail to prevent and prosecute domestic violence treat women as second-class citizens and send a clear message that the violence against them is of no concern to the broader society.

Other forms of violence are unfair economic models that undermine women’s safety, health and livelihood.
Below are some statistics on domestic violence.

- Domestic violence can happen to anyone. It is not limited to factors such as age, race, social or economic status.

- 97% of domestic violence victims are women.

- According to FBI statistics...an incident of domestic violence occurs every 9 seconds in the United states of America.

- As violence against women becomes more severe and more frequent in the home, children experience a 300% increase in physical violence by the male batterer.

- 4,000 women are killed each year by an intimate partner, of those, 75% were killed after leaving the abusive relationship.

- Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 to 44, more common than automobile accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

- More than 4 million incidents of domestic violence against women are reported every year.

- Every year, domestic violence results in almost 100,000 days of hospitalizations, almost 30,000 emergency room visits, and almost 40,000 visits to a physician.

Unfortunately there is no program offered by the Afghan Government. International organizations need to work together to develop a common understanding of domestic violence and to coordinate responses of the legal, medical, and social service professionals to enhance victim safety and batterer accountability. Advocates should work to prevent domestic violence through lobbying and community education, as well as through the creation of batterers' intervention programs. Afghanistan Women Council is working with almost 2000 women everyday in Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad to increase their awareness and help them prevent such violations.

Due to the increasingly poor security in the country, traveling around, especially to the districts, is almost impossible. The current Afghan Government with the full support of the international community has failed to provide security in the country. The main reasons for this unstable and unsatisfactory security situation in the country are:

1The mistake made at the beginning during the first Loya Jerga was that no attention was given to the opposition at all.

2 Taliban were disarmed with the promise that they would be safe but they were sent to various jails. Their houses were bombed, and their property destroyed.

3 Contradictive policy of the Government vis-à-vis opposition.

4 The government was formed on the basis of deals and compromises with various political and military groups.

5 International and national drug mafia leaders, connected to various countries of the world became the high ranking authority of the country, or enjoy strong support of the Afghan Government.

The international drug Mafia is expanding its scope of activity in Afghanistan and this is one of the reasons for the continuation of war. This Mafia benefits from the support of high ranking authorities of Afghanistan and it does not want Afghanistan to become a stable country. The recent escalation of security incidents in Afghanistan will definitely drag the country back to a wide ranging war which had just ended and already resulted in millions of lives lost with millions of widows and orphans left behind during the past two decades. The security situation in the country worsens with the passage of each day and that severely affects the poor women in the countryside. International Aid organizations can’t work in the countryside, Businessmen and wealthy individuals are not interested in making investments in Afghanistan, therefore, the costs for food and other imported goods are increasing daily. The poor people of Afghanistan have no jobs, no income, no access to improved seeds of various grains and vegetables and no fertilizer to cultivate their land.

The International community has put in a good effort for Afghanistan in the name of women’s development, empowerment, and equality, opposing gender violations against women, etc. However, in reality, tangible results have not been achieved.
As observed in the past few months, the security situation remains a major concern all over the country. Warlords are still in power and people fear the collapse of the fragile security arrangements in place.

Afghanistan needs a pure, mandated government made up of honest, country-loving, educated, experienced people who are dedicated and committed. Our people need action for the improvement of their government system and in their own daily lives. Words and slogans can’t meet their needs.

Once again AWC strives to eliminate domestic and social violence against women around the world and seeks solidarity and unity among women to stand together for their rights. The international drug Mafia is expanding its scope of activity in Afghanistan and this is one of the reasons for the continuation of war. This Mafia benefits from the support of high ranking authorities of Afghanistan and it does not want Afghanistan to become a stable country. The recent escalation of security incidents in Afghanistan will definitely drag the country back to a wide ranging war which had just ended and already resulted in millions of lives lost with millions of widows and orphans left behind during the past two decades.