Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 16th Dec. UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Friday said that under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women reported gender-based violence to the authorities may end up in prison allegedly for the victims’ own protection.
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan released recent report which found that instead of filing a formal complaint, many survivors prefer seeking redress through “traditional dispute resolution mechanisms” within the community for fear of the de facto authorities including “fear of re-victimization”.
The report said that the plight of victims is compounded by the handling of gender-based violence complaints predominantly by male police and justice personnel.
Taliban have completely erased women from public life and civil service positions in the country since it came into power on August of 15, 2021.
The report noted that mechanisms and policies enabling victims to obtain legal redress and protection have “all but disappeared” since the Taliban takeover.
Taliban officials were quoted as saying that 23 state-sponsored women’s shelters were dismantled as women survivors needed instead to be with their husbands or other male family members.
Some officials deemed that Afghan women being sent to prison allegedly for their own safety, was the only alternative,.
UNAMA noted that imprisoning women to ensure their protection from gender-based-violence “would amount to an arbitrary deprivation of liberty” with dire consequences for their mental and physical health.
UNAMA reiterated the de facto authorities’ obligation to ensure justice in gender-based violence cases, to put an end to “the perpetual culture of impunity” and also to provide protection and access to services for victims.
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