UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (APP): Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women reporting gender-based violence to the authorities may end up in prison – supposedly for the victims’ own protection, according to a new UN report. That’s just one of the surprising findings of the report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which found that instead of filing a formal complaint, many survivors prefer seeking redress through “traditional dispute resolution mechanisms” within the community for fear of the de facto authorities – including “fear of revictimization”.
Before the Taliban seized power in 2021, there were 23 state-sponsored women protection centers in Afghanistan where survivors of gender-based violence could seek refuge. Now there are none, the U.N. report said. The report said that the plight of victims is compounded by the handling of gender-based violence complaints predominantly by male police and justice personnel. Since their return to power in August 2021 the Taliban have almost completely erased women from public life and civil service positions in the country, it was pointed out. Mechanisms and policies enabling victims to obtain legal redress and protection have “all but disappeared” since the Taliban takeover, the report notes. Some 23 state-sponsored women’s shelters were dismantled as women survivors needed instead to be with their husbands or other male family members, Taliban officials were quoted as saying. Being sent to prison allegedly for their own safety, was the only alternative, deemed some officials.
Taliban imprisoning women to protect them from gender-based violence: UN Report
