WUNRN
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Thousands of women in Afghanistan have been abandoned by
their husbands |
FARYAB, 21 August 2007 (IRIN) - Jamila - not her real
name - was 14 when she was married to Habibullah, 31, a match arranged by her
father.
Habibullah left her just three months into their
marriage to go and work in Iran and has not reappeared in 10 years. Jamila now
lives with her in-laws but feels cheated as she cannot get remarried and has
not sought a divorce because of the social stigma attached to such a move. She
feels trapped: “I have no future," she said.
In many parts of war-ravaged and underdeveloped
Afghanistan, where most people are illiterate, conservative traditions and
customs take precedence over Afghan law when it comes to personal and family
disputes.
"Abandoned women suffer because the law is
compromised by customs and traditions which go against Islamic principles and
Afghanistan's civil codes," said Suraya Subhrang, the women's rights
commissioner at the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).
Women are legally entitled to get a divorce should their
husbands stay away for over four years, Qazi Mohammad Akbar, head of Faryab Province’s
secondary court, told IRIN, but the stigma attached means that in practice this
virtually never happens except in rare instances in the big cities.
Abandoned women suffer
because the law is compromised by customs and traditions which go against
Islamic principles and Afghanistan's civil codes.
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Men have the weight of prevailing traditions on their
side and, especially in rural areas, exploit these to get what they want: An
Islamic tradition, according to which a man can renounce his marriage simply by
uttering the word `talaq’, is still common.
"Men send in divorce papers or verbally express
their will for separation over the phone to a judge and by doing so simply
destroy the life of young women," Subhrang said.
In Afghanistan’s patriarchal society absent husbands
also affect the children of such marriages, who are disadvantaged and
stigmatised.
Suicide
Officials at Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs
(MoWA) say hundreds of women with absent husbands, or who have experienced domestic
violence, have received legal counselling and advice. MoWA also assists women
who apply for divorce. However, the women usually face resistance from their
husbands or in-laws.
"The number of women who dare to file for divorce
and separation is very limited, and restricted only to Kabul and a few major
cities," said Fawzia Siddiqui, a member of parliament.
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Jamila
says her husband has been living in Iran for more than 10 years |
In most areas, where tradition takes precedence over
the law and where justice is thus restricted, women often take drastic action:
In the last six months alone, over 250 women have committed suicide in the
country, according to AIHRC.
"In the absence of their husbands, women experience
violence and abuse from their in-laws. Some become desperate and see no option
but self-immolation," Subhrang told IRIN.
Many Afghans believe that wedding their daughters to
Afghans - often older men - who live in Western countries will ease their
economic plight, but more often than not these turn out to be short-lived
affairs.
"Some of these men spend a month or two with their
young brides and then leave for good," Subhrang said.
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