Afghan legislation nudges women's rights forward

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iWjK606iU0F05tQc2ldaPUeLL9AwD9B2F3SG0

Aisha Crawford

October 2, 2009

3:30

In Afghanistan, lawmakers are trying to make laws that protect women more in cases of domestic violence and rights for themselves. The new legislation to protect women comes nearly eight years after the fall of the Taliban regime, which made women virtual prisoners in their homes. The measure, which was first proposed in 2004 and signed this summer by President Hamid Karzai while Parliament was in recess, outlaws spousal abuse along with acts like the bartering of female relatives and child marriages.

In this country men do not really see women as their equal and offer huge resistance to the new laws. One of the women in the article said that at an early age she was taught that husbands were like second Gods in the family and that women were only there to serve and obey. Many times if a women withholds sex from her spouse is allowed to beat her or hold financial support from her which limits her ability to leave the home. Men are in charge and women have no say so.

Even if a woman does escape, the husband is automatically granted custody of the child. And if or when the husband finds her, the family or the husband will beat or kill her.

Afghanistan was a patriarchal society long before the Taliban forced women to stay inside the home and banned girls from attending school. While the removal of these strictures has given women more opportunities on paper, those choices often aren't available in villages and towns where it is common for a man to settle a debt by giving a sister in marriage and where female rape victims risk their lives by speaking out. When a woman is raped, she can also be charged with adultery instead of being supported.

Parliament is expected to approve the legislation but the bill has already been watered down. University professors, lawyers, police officials and even some members of the human rights commission — in a nod to social limitations — asked for changes that made punishments less severe.
Saqib,a politician, acknowledged that women face many barriers to reporting crimes, even with a law to back them up, but stressed that it is a move toward changing mindsets.

Week after week i hear about all of the negative things women are facing around the world. How could anyone ever blame a women for being raped, yet alone charge her for having sex outside of the marriage. It seems no matter where you are, women always get the short end of the stick. Hopefully these lawmakers can come up with and actually pass some laws that will protect women. Afterall women are the backbone of the community.