Throughout Afghanistan a resistance is stirring. Women – abused, burned with acid, victimized, violated and beaten are gathering in numbers.
A protest is being organized in a country torn apart by war, corruption, and a repressive regime. Tomorrow the United Nations marks International Women’s Day, a sad reminder of the world’s most silenced crimes – domestic abuse and sexual violence.
In Kandahar, word of mouth has spread. A gathering will take place Sunday and all women are to wear blue scarves, a color that matches the burka, a symbol of Taliban repression. Kandahar is one of Afghanistan’s most volatile and entrenched areas.
In November of last year, the Taliban threw acid at students gathered outside Mirwais Meena girls school in Kandahar. It left two blinded and several other disfigured. Fear drove most of the girls away. Out of 1300 students, only 30 dared to show up.
At the heart of the matter is the struggle of identity. Pitted against religion and culture, those who attempt to define identity through force are tearing apart humanity in the name of ideology. Dr. Yakin Erturk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, calls this political identity.
That we are capable of such physical and psychological violence to drive Afghan women to self-immolation is a crime that must be stopped. 87 percent suffer from domestic abuse.
Here in Brussels, the EU vice-president the EU Commissioner for Health have left for Liberia to attend an International Colloquium on Women’s Leadership. At stake is the dismal implementation of UN Resolution 1325. Enacted ten years ago to end violence against women, the colloquium will attempt to realize the resolution’s goals.
But the road is long. In Europe alone, it is estimated that 20 to 25 percent of all women suffer abuse at least once in their lives. In a refugee camp in Sierra Leone, almost 80 percent of women have been subject to attack. According to UNIFEM, only 2 percent of post-conflict resources target women’s need.
Those nations who have “ratified” UN Resolution 1325 and UN Resolution 1820 need to act – now.
