Reports surface days before UN summit on Afghanistan that will exclude Afghan women and debate on women’s rights
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In more than one case the arrests and sexual abuse that young women faced while in custody earlier this year led to suicide and attempted suicide.
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In one case, a woman’s body was allegedly found in a canal a few weeks after she had been taken into custody by Taliban militants, with a source close to her family saying she had been sexually abused before her death.
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Girls and women also say they had been subjected to beatings and intimidation while in detention.
Amina*, a 22-year-old medical student, said she spent three nights in a Taliban prison after being arrested in January 2024. She said she was interrogated by an older man who asked her about her menstruation and whether she was married or not.
“I fell at his feet and begged him, ‘Please, kill me but don’t harass me’,” she said. “He said: ‘Since you are keen to die, I will kill you, but before that, let us have fun with you.’
“Then he started touching my private parts,” Amina said. “I fainted twice during the interrogation, but every time, he poured cold water over my head.”
Amina said what happened to her happened to every girl taken to that interrogation room and left alone with the man.
There is a massive difference in the degree. The situation for women in Afghanistan is terrible. Should no one write articles about girls not being allowed to attend school in Afghanistan because sometimes teachers and administrators at US public schools discourage girls from participating in STEM?
I never said such a thing… I am merely providing context for people before they do the ol’ reliable cope: “at least we are not Afghanistan”
Also, you don’t have to be a girl to be discouraged from academic achievement in the US… being poor is plenty enough ;)
True about being poor, but at least we’re not Afghanistan.