Monday, October 22, 2012

Cycle of Violence Continues

In the western world, we take many things for granted. We take for granted the fact women can get an education, a job and control their own lives. In many parts of the world this is not the case. One such place is Afghanistan where the Department of Women’s Affairs in Herat, Afghanistan, has recorded 700 acts of violence this year alone. And that's only in one region of the country.


Most of these acts of violence don't reach the international media. The latest, however, did. In this latest case, a 25-year-old newlywed was murdered by her husband, his parents and his cousin. They decapitated her body and left it outside their home. The cause for such violence? She refused to become a prostitute, violating her mother-in-law's wishes.


The cousin told reporters, “My uncle’s wife told me I should kill this person,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t kill her. She told me, ‘if you can’t kill her, then help me do it.’ She forced me and I helped her.”


Every day, Afghan women are the victims of violence, murder and dismemberment. Human- rights groups are trying to make a difference and force change, but change in this region is slow coming and violence is actually on the rise.


As the suspects in this case were arrested, women’s rights activists protested outside the police station because it had taken so long for the arrests to be made.


What do you think can be done to stop the cycle of violence in Afghanistan?


No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...