The recent gang-rapes, which victimized two females, aged 12 and 3, in Takhar province and a 6-year-old boy in Kandahar province raised the concern of parliament representatives. The parliamentarians urged the government to hang the perpetrators in public. A female representative, talking with great emotion, said that females, including children, are molested in Takhar gruesomely which mostly remain unreported. She pointed out that a 3-year-old girl lost her life in a gang-rape not long ago, and many other teenagers were molested without reports. She added that the molesters are often armed men.
Moreover, the Takhar representative said that the officials, including provincial governor, are employed not on the basis of merit but on relationship – which is rampant in our country. According to her, the reason behind unreported cases is the Takhar officials’ illegal interference. In other words, Takhar officials are vastly involved in such cases and prevent from their spread. Members of parliament condemned the most recent gang-rape, which victimized a toddler, with strong tune and asked the government to pay serious attention to such cases and hang the molesters so as to put justice into practice.
Children are the most vulnerable part of the society and their rights are often violated in one way or another. They are maltreated indoors and harassed and molested outdoors. In some families, they are the bread-winners and supposed to provide their widowed mothers or old parents a morsel of food by hook or by crook. As a result, if one walks on Kabul streets, s/he will see many working children who are polishing shoes, selling plastics, collecting garbage, etc. Above all, in some armed-dominated districts, the boys are made to wear feminine clothes and dance for them – the victims come from poor families.
Violence against women and girls is also a serious issue in our society. Just consider, among the recent rape victims, two of them are female. Women and girls are harassed more often on the streets, roads and many other public places. They still seem to be treated as inferior creature and expected to be subject to the men’s willingness.
The violence against women can occur in both public and private spheres of life and at any time of their life span. Many women are terrified by these threats of violence and this essentially has an impact on their lives that they are impeded to exercise their human rights, for instance, the fear for contribution to the development of their communities socially, economically and politically.
It is aptly said, “For every woman and girl violently attacked, we reduce our humanity. For every woman forced into unprotected sex because men demand this, we destroy dignity and pride. Every woman who has to sell her life for sex we condemn to a lifetime in prison. For every moment we remain silent, we conspire against our women. For every woman infected by HIV, we destroy a generation.”
The right of women and their social progress after the collapse of Taliban regime is beyond doubt, however, discrimination is still felt widely in public places. For instance, forced or early marriages, mental and physical tortures, sexual abuses, etc. are rampant – chiefly in villages and remote areas. The traditional patterns of behavior towards girls and women, cultural restrictions, and social barriers will not be changed overnight rather need longer time and greater efforts. Women and girls can break the limitations, and prove their abilities, as they have done to a large extent, over the passage of time. The young girls may soon earn their parents’ trust and change their frames of mind and attitudes towards themselves, through their abilities and social activities. Hope they will be given chance to flourish their talents and aptitudes.
Above all, human rights institutions, civil activists and feministic organizations are supposed to shake hands with one another to uphold women’s rights and empower them to defend themselves. They have to raise their voice against the injustice and violations of women’s rights going on across the country. Moreover, they are to provide job opportunities and found literacy classes for women so that they stand on their own feet economically and understand their rights – this will be very effective in eliminating violence.
The members of parliament urged the clergy to voice their concern and condemn the barbaric acts victimizing women and children. It is a religious and moral obligation on the clergy to react seriously towards violence committed against citizens. Furthermore, they should talk about the rights of women and children in the mosques, especially in Fridays’ speeches, so that people know the ugliness of such crimes more than ever before. Hence, evading this responsibility will be considered a sin in Islam.
The men must know that women are our mothers, sisters or daughters or at least simple citizens like us and have inalienable rights to be protected and respected. Their self-esteems and human values are emphasized in Islam. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) held women in great respect and treated his family members justly and without any discrimination. His love and respect to his daughter is considered a valuable symbol for Muslim Ummah. Additionally, the significant roles of women throughout the history are recorded with pride. Hence, respecting women, children and their rights are also our religious and moral obligations. Hope, they will be treated equally with men.