Over the years of its existence, Afghan women has grown increasingly concerned about the occurrence of gender- based violence in Afghanistan, recognizing that women have been mostly impacted by violence following to the deteriorating security situation across Afghanistan and the lack of Rule of Law in the country that led to crimes being unpunished.
The status of Women has severely deteriorated in Afghanistan following to a long time now as women are constantly pushed out of the public sphere and are increasingly retreating inside houses. The chaos following the fall of the various Regimes in the country opened old and new avenues of discrimination against women. Increasing influence of religious and tribal traditions which rely heavily on a patriarchal structure often justify the use of diverse forms of violence against women.
It is yet not possible to measure the extent of the phenomena across Afghanistan since data on the occurrence of violence against women is not collected on a systematic basis but women organizations recognize that it is widely spread and perpetrators remain largely unpunished.
While physical violence may be accepted to ensure that the woman obey her husband, early and forced marriage are other kinds of violence that are widely promoted by a group of ignorant and illiterate population that ultimately lead to women losing their rights in may socio-economic cases.
While it is widely recognized that women from all socio-economic classes may be victims of violence against women, women in vulnerable communities are particularly at risk: the girl is often considered a financial burden to the family. Early and forced marriage along marriage out of civil courts are common among vulnerable communities. Tribal customs are still considering girls as a commodity that can be used as a gift to settle disputes.
Violence against women remains a phenomena considered as a taboo which should be dealt with privately within the family. Addressing family and other private issues out of the family sphere remain shameful and women victims of violence find themselves particularly isolated with no one to talk to and address their personal issues with. As a result, women have no opportunity to share their suffering with others and relieve their burden and have no possibility to seek advice and support to break the cycle of violence they may be subjected to.
Women are also raised with a very patriarchal concept of what is the role and the tasks of a woman. They often do not have the knowledge, ability and strength to challenge these ideas and make decisions for themselves out of the standard gender roles that have been assigned to them and often accept and endure situations of violence.
Local authorities are as well not adequately capacitated to deal with violence against women. Local security and health structures are not sensitized to the issue and are not necessarily aware of how to detect and how to deal with cases of violence. Therefore, poor services are available to women in need of support and help at the community level.