WUNRN
Via Network for Afghan Women
AFGHANISTAN - VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
LAW AT RISK
The
Afghan Women's Network is demanding that no amendment or changes should be made
in the law on elimination of violence against women.
______________________________________________________________________
AFGHANISTAN
- VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN LAW IN JEOPARDY - VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JVAsyWtPEMc
Politicians in Afghanistan have halted a debate on whether to give
parliamentary approval to a law protecting women against violence. Proceedings
were brought to an end amid angry scenes after less than fifteen minutes when
traditionalists demanded a repeal of the law, which was introduced without
parliamentary consent by President Hamid Karzai four years ago. Afghan
Journalist Sana Safi being interviewed by BBC News24
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/18/us-afghanistan-women-idUSBRE94H06J20130518?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637
AFGHANISTAN - PARLIAMENT FAILS TO PASS DIVISIVE WOMEN'S LAW
By
Miriam Arghandiwal and Ibrahimi Aziz
Kabul - May 18, 2013
(Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament failed to pass a law on Saturday banning
violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women's rights in the
conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a
decade ago.
President Hamid Karzai approved the law by decree in 2009 and parliament's
endorsement was required. But a rift between conservative and more secular
members of the assembly resulted in debate being deferred to a later date.
Religious members objected to at least eight articles in the legislation,
including keeping the legal age for women to marry at 16, the existence of
shelters for domestic abuse victims and the halving of the number of wives
permitted to two.
"Today, the parliamentarians who oppose women's development, women's rights
and the success of women...made their voices loud and clear," Fawzia
Koofi, head of parliament's women's commission, told Reuters.
Women have won back the hard-fought right to education and work since the
Taliban was toppled 12 years ago, but there are fears these freedoms could
shrink once NATO-led forces leave Afghanistan by the end of next year.
Increasing insecurity is deterring some women from seeking work outside the
home, and rights workers accuse the government of doing too little to protect
women - allegations rejected by Karzai's administration.
"2014 is coming, change is coming, and the future of women in this country
is uncertain. A new president will come and if he doesn't take women's rights
seriously he can change the decree," Koofi said of the Elimination of
Violence Against Women Law, which goes by the acronym EVAL.
The election for a new president is expected to be held in April 2014. The
constitution bars Karzai from running again.
After almost two hours of clashes between Koofi and the more religious members
of the 244-member parliament, speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said the assembly
would consider the law again at a later date, but declined to say when.
Some members sought amendments, such as longer prison terms for crimes
committed against women, such as beating and rape.
Many lawmakers, most of them male, cited violations of Islamic, or Sharia law.
"It is wrong that a woman and man cannot marry off their child until she
is 16," said Obaidullah Barekzai, a member from southeast Uruzgan
province, where female literacy rates are among the lowest in the country.
An Afghan man must be at least 18 years old to marry.
Barekzai argued against all age limits for women, citing historical figure
Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, a close companion of the Prophet Mohammad, who married
off his daughter at age seven.
At least eight other lawmakers, mostly from the Ulema Council, a
government-appointed body of clerics, joined him in decrying the EVAL as
un-Islamic.
Abdul Sattar Khawasi, member for Kapisa province, called women's shelters
"morally corrupt". Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb last year
dismissed them as houses of "prostitution and immorality", provoking
fierce condemnation from women's groups.
(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Ron Popeski)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/10523
AFGHANISTAN - NO AMENDMENTS NEEDED IN WOMEN'S RIGHTS LAW: AFGHAN WOMEN'S NETWORK
16 May 2013 - By Karim Amini
The Afghan Women's Network is demanding that no amendment or changes should be made in the law on elimination of violence against women.
The Afghan Women's Network said that the Parliament is trying to bring some amendments in the law on elimination of violence against women which will prove to be detrimental for the Afghan women and put front some serious challenges.
Recently the law on
elimination of violence against women has been tabled in the Parliament for
discussion.
The planned changes in the law have surprised the Afghan Women's Network.
Mahbobah Saraj, a member of Afghan Women's Network said, "Any kind of compromise on women rights will put in danger the last ten years of achievements."
The law on elimination of violence against women has been called as the most powerful law supporting the rights of women in the country after the Constitution.
This law lists crimes such as under age forced marriage, selling and buying of women/girls under the pretext of marriage, self-immolation, beating, raping and various other forms of violence against women.
Summarizing the probable amendments in this law, Sorya Sobrang, a member of the Afghan Women's Network said, "It is perceived that some amendments would come regarding women's marriages, right of education, safe houses for women and some other issues. For example in the current law it has been mentioned that every girl aged 18 years can decide about her future but in the changes it has been mentioned that if the family of the girl or her lawyer says that it is not going to harm her then she can't marry."
Heather Barr a member of Human Rights Watch said, "Even though we are not satisfied with the non-implementation of this law but having this law is a sign of progress and any kind of changes in this law would be a disaster for the Afghan women. The Parliament should work towards strengthening this law and not weaken it."
_______________________________________________