KABUL - The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Monday voiced its grave concern over women’s continuing plight, including murder, rape and summary execution.

The independent watchdog attributed the worrying situation to limited access to education, the government’s failure to pay attention to their rights and poor rule of law in the country.

In a statement, the commission said it had recorded 4,154 cases of violence against women over the past six months, up from 3,331 cases in the last half of the previous year.

“The difference between these figures shows violence against women has increased 24.7 percent, compared with previous year’s statistics,” a statement from AIHRC said.

Based on its findings, women suffered 1,249 cases of physical violence, 976 of verbal and psychological aggression, 862 of economic violent behavior, 262 of sexual harassment and 805 cases, including forced and early marriages.

“The figures show that the culture of impunity still exists in the country and a weak follow-up by the relevant state organs and stakeholders has caused this problem to get more intense,” the statement added.

The AIHRC urged the government, the international community and civil society organizations to take necessary measures to reduce the level of violence against women. (Pajhwok)