WUNRN
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More than half of marriages in Kandahar involve underage
girls, according to AIHRC. |
KANDAHAR, 16 October 2007 (IRIN) - Fifteen-year-old Razia (not her real
name) has been imprisoned in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, for
escaping from her husband's house and eloping with another man.
She was only 12 when her father married her to an elderly man for a significant
dowry payment. "He [her husband] was very brutal and was treating me
violently," Razia said.
"No one was helping me escape my husband's cruelty," the
distraught teenager said, adding that her only resort was to elope with a young
man whom she thought would give her a new life.
Months later Razia registered for divorce from her elderly husband. "As I
filed for divorce the police arrested me and put me in prison," she told
IRIN.
Not only is elopement unlawful for a married woman in Afghanistan, it is also
taboo.
It is unclear how long Razia will remain in prison. She could be sentenced to
death or get 10-15 years. Sexual relations outside marriage are considered a
serious offence in Afghan civil law, which is derived from Islamic Sharia law.
Afghanistan recently ended a three-year moratorium on the death penalty.
If sexual relations outside marriage are not proved, she could still face an
unspecified sentence for running away from her home with a stranger
(`na-muhram’), said Kandahar judge Haji Karim.
More reports on Afghanistan |
Poverty, illiteracy exacerbate problem
Research by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) shows
that over half of marriages in southern Kandahar Province are in essence child
marriages.
"A vast majority of families [in Kandahar] wed their daughters before their
legal age [16]," said Najiba Hashimi, an AIHRC official.
Child marriage is prevalent, rights activists say, but the degree to which it
is practiced varies from province to province according to different levels of
public awareness and local customs.
According to the AIHRC, conservative traditions, widespread illiteracy among
parents (up to 70 percent of Afghanistan’s 24.5 million people are reportedly
illiterate) and nationwide poverty are some of the factors driving families to
wed their underage daughters.
Up to 70 percent of registered cases of violence against women have their
origins in early marriages, Hashimi said.
"Young children and teenagers often do not fully realise the complexities
of marriage and mostly fail to comply with their wedding vows, and this can
lead to both physical and mental violence," said Fawzia Amini, director of
the legal affairs department at Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs.
Child marriage is also considered to be contributing to the country's high
maternal and child mortality rates, health experts say.
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Widespread
illiteracy, poverty and conservative traditions are some of the major
factors, which contribute to underage marriages in Afghanistan, experts say. |
Long-term problem
Suraya Subhrang, a women's rights expert working for the AIHRC, says child
marriage is a complex social phenomenon which can only be tackled by the
long-term educational, economic and cultural development of the whole Afghan
nation.
"We need strong institutions to ensure the rule of law in society and
reliable access to justice for all, regardless of gender," Subhrang told
IRIN.
Until such institutions are built up, widespread illiteracy is tackled, and
viable protective mechanisms established for Afghan girls and young women,
predicaments such as those faced by Razia will remain an unfortunate reality,
rights activists say.
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