Home Tags Posts tagged with "women’s rights"

women’s rights

0

Sahar Gul, a teenage bride from Afghanistan, who was tortured for months after her arranged marriage, has spoken out for the first time since her rescue, saying she hopes her husband and his family are jailed for her abuse.

15-year-old Sahar Gul became the bruised and bloodied face of women’s rights in Afghanistan after she was rescued in late December when an uncle called police.

Speaking in an interview on Saturday from a hospital in Kabul, Sahar Gul blamed her husband, his parents and his sister for her ordeal.

“I want them to be in jail,” the girl said.

“They gave me electric shock. … They beat me with cables and tortured me.”

Sahar Gul is being treated for multiple injuries that include broken fingers and ripped-out fingernails, the Associated Press reports.

15-year-old Sahar Gul became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan after she was rescued in late December when an uncle called police

15-year-old Sahar Gul became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan after she was rescued in late December when an uncle called police

Police in Baghlan province where Sahar Gul was rescued have said her in-laws locked her up and tortured her after she refused to work as a prostitute. Her husband’s parents and sister have been arrested. They deny any wrongdoing.

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for her husband, who serves in the Afghan army.

Sahar Gul’s doctor, Feriba Omarzada, said the girl is recovering but is still traumatized.

The teenager’s story has shocked Afghanistan and prompted calls for more efforts to end underage marriage.

The legal marriage age in Afghanistan is 16, but the United Nations agency UN Women estimates that half of all girls are forced to marry under age 15.

Sahar Gul was in critical condition when she was rescued from a house in northern Baghlan province last week. Police say her in-laws pulled out her nails and hair, and locked her in a dark basement bathroom for about five months, with barely enough food and water to survive.

Sahar Gul husband’s family also burned her with cigarettes and cut out chunks of her flesh with pliers.

Local media reported today that Provincial Security Chief for northern Baghlan province General Syed Zamanuddin Hussaini revealed father-in-law Mohammad Aman was detained with the help of local residents in northern Pul-e-Khumri city.

General Hussaini added that Mohammad Aman was introduced to provincial attorney general and the Afghan security forces are struggling to find the husband of Sahar Gul.

In the meantime, Mohammad Aman has denied allegations of torturing Sahar Gul and said that she was suffering from psychological disorders.

After hearing of the abuse, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai said those responsible would be punished.

Doctors say the girl has suffered both mentally and physically and will need weeks of treatment in order to recover.

“She was married seven months ago, and was originally from Badakhshan province. Her in-laws tried to force her into prostitution to earn money,” Rahima Zarifi, head of women’s affairs in Baghlan told Reuters.

Sahar Gul is covered in scars and bruises, with one eye still swollen shut six days after her rescue.

The girl is being treated in a government hospital in Kabul, but she may have to be sent to India, doctors said.

“This is one of the worst cases of violence against Afghan women. The perpetrators must be punished so others learn a lesson,” health minister Suraya Dalil told journalists after visiting Sahar Gul today with the women’s affairs minister.

Mohammad Zia, a senior police official in Baghlan, who helped to rescue the girl, said her mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been detained, but her husband had escaped.

“We have launched a serious hunt to get her husband and the others involved,” Mohammad Zia said.

Despite progress in women’s rights and freedom since the fall of the Taliban 10 years ago, women throughout the country are still at risk of abduction, rape, forced marriage and being traded as commodity.

However, it can be hard for women to escape violent situations at home, because of huge social and sometimes legal pressure to stay in marriages.

Running away from an abusive husband or a forced marriage are considered “moral crimes”, for which women are currently imprisoned in Afghanistan.

Some rape victims have also been imprisoned, because sex outside marriage, even when the woman is forced, is considered adultery, another “moral crime”.

[youtube Iv6bjEJmeH0]

0

2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly to three women – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman, a pro-democracy activist from Yemen.

The three women were recognized for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the Nobel Committee chairman said:

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

Reading from the prize citation, Thorbjorn Jagland said the committee hoped the prize would “help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent”.

Tawakul Karman heard of her win from Change Square in the capital Sanaa, where she has been living for several months in a protest camp calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down.

Tawakul Karman was recognized for playing a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights in Yemen’s pro-democracy protests “in the most trying circumstances” and is the first Arab women to win the prize.

Tawakul Karman was recognized for playing a leading part in the struggle for women's rights in Yemen's pro-democracy protests

Tawakul Karman was recognized for playing a leading part in the struggle for women's rights in Yemen's pro-democracy protests

As the head of Yemeni organization Women Journalists without Chains, the mother-of-three, Tawakul Karman has been jailed several times over her campaigns for press freedom and her opposition to the government.

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, who had been widely tipped as a winner, said the award was “for all Liberian people” and a recognition of “many years of struggle for justice”.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an US-educated economist and the former finance minister was elected in 2005, following the end of Liberia’s 14-year civil war which left 250,000 people dead, caused thousands to flee abroad and financially ruined the country.

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa's first female elected head of state

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa's first female elected head of state

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, known as Liberia’s “Iron Lady”, has pledged to fight corruption and bring “motherly sensitivity and emotion to the presidency” as a way of healing the wounds of war.

Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first female elected head of state.

Liberian President is popular among women and the country’s small elite, but disliked by more traditional male-dominated sections of society.

She is standing for re-election next week, having previously said she would one hold the presidency for one term.

Leymah Gbowee was a leading critic of the violence during the Liberian civil war, mobilizing women across ethnic and religious lines in peace activism – in part through implementing a “sex strike” – and encouraging them to participate in elections.

In 2003, Leymah Gbowee led a march through the capital, Monrovia, demanding an end to the rape of women by soldiers, which had continued despite a peace deal being signed three months earlier.

Leymah Gbowee had “worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war”

Leymah Gbowee had “worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war”

According to Nobel Committee, Leymah Gbowee had “worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war”.

Leymah Gbowee said: “I am confused. I am humbled. This is the first time in the 39 years of my life that I am out of words.

“This is a victory for women rights everywhere in the world. What could be better then three women winning the prize?

“This is the recognition that we hear you, we see you, we acknowledge you.”

The three women will share the $1.5 million prize money.

The Nobel Peace Prize originally recognized those who had already achieved peace, but that its scope has broadened in recent years to encourage those working towards peace and acknowledge work in progress.

The Nobel committee received a record 241 nominations for 2011 prize – among the individuals and groups believed to have been put forward were the European Union, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and key cyber dissidents in the Arab Spring movement.

© © 2011 - 2023 BelleNews.com