During the US-led NATO military presence in Afghanistan (2001-2021), the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) advocated for the rights of women into law. While these rights were met with skepticism, if not outright hostility, with certain segments of Afghan society and the Afghan parliament, it was a promising way forward. The Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW LAW) was issued by decree by President Hamid Karzai in 2009 and by President Ashraf Ghani in 2018. Injustices such as domestic violence, forced marriage, immolation, forced prostitution, and many others, became illegal. Women and girls became free to pursue an education, enjoy fresh air and socialize in parks, travel wherever and whenever they pleased. School-aged girls’ dreams came true as young women graduating from university. That all came to a halt on August 15, 2021, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Like water dripping on stone, the rights women had come to enjoy eroded. Shortly after the …
WAW Afghanistan
How WAW helped Zaafirah walk again
Zaafirah is 17 years old. She has just learned to walk again. Zaafirah’s tragedy began the day she was forced into a marriage with a man from her village in an exchange arranged by her parents. The harrowing abuse started as soon as the young girl moved in with her new husband and in-laws. Her parents would remain in the dark because Zaafirah’s husband and in-laws would ban her from visiting or communicating with her family. After months of abuse that amounted to torture, Zaafirah became so weak and her condition deteriorated to such a terrible state that her in-laws contacted her father and told him that she had been diagnosed with cancer. They asked him to come to their house to take her back, alluding that she was “damaged goods.” When her father arrived, they handed over Zaafirah at their doorstep without letting him into the house. Once they got home, Zaafirah’s father realized that she had suffered the most unbearable physical abuse. Muscles in her leg were severed, her nails had …
#ByHerSide in Afghanistan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlDYMT3b8pk&t=199s WAW’s #ByHerSide program in Afghanistan provides access to critically-needed health services including: treatment for survivors of rape or incest (including emergency reconstructive surgeries as needed); treatment for survivors of physical abuse or violence by family or community members; obstetrics and gynecological services for pregnant women (including nutritional supplements to reduce incidences of malnutrition and providing medicines such as pain relievers); and birth and after-birth services in a high-quality medical facility. …