Taliban jails women survivors of violence for ‘Protection’: UN Reprot

Written By: Hakim Bigzaad

International media, citing the Office of the Deputy of the United Nations in Afghanistan, have reported that the Taliban administration sends women survivors of gender-based violence to prison for their protection.

The BBC news network reported on Friday, December 15, that there are now no shelters for the protection of violence victims in Afghanistan, and the Taliban claims that they are being properly protected in prison.

UNAMA has stated that gender-based violence against women and girls existed in Afghanistan even before the dominance of the Taliban. Still, with the advent of the new regime, the social life of women has been limited, and family violence against women, especially by their husbands, has increased.

The UNAMA office added that before the re-establishment of the Taliban, there were 23 shelters for the protection of women survivors of gender-based violence in the country, none of which are now active.

The de facto regime has deemed protective shelters for women or ‘safe houses’ as originating from Western culture and declared their existence unnecessary.”

Officials of the Taliban administration have stated that they take commitments from caretakers of violence-affected women to not harm them.

The report states: ‘In cases where women survivors of violence had no male relatives or there were safety concerns, they were sent to prisons; similar to addicts and the homeless.’

Meanwhile, the ‘Purple Saturday Movement’, managed by a number of protesting women, has expressed concern in a statement regarding the realities reflected in this report.

The statement of this movement states: ‘Imprisoning women who are themselves victims of gender-based violence is not only against Islam and Sharia, but in reality, it is a horrific form of mental, emotional, and physical abuse of women that must be stopped immediately.’

UNAMA has said that since the Taliban came to power again on August 15, 2021, the handling of gender-based violence complaints has been unclear and inconsistent.

The Office of the Deputy of the United Nations has emphasized that women who have experienced violence are now afraid of seeking official justice for fear of arrest.

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