Afghanistan: Taliban sending women to prisons to protect them from gender-based violence, says report

The Taliban administration in Afghanistan is sending women to prisons to protect them from gender-based violence, the United Nations (UN) said in a report on Thursday (Dec 14). According to the report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Taliban send women to prisons if they have no male relatives to stay with or if the male relatives are considered unsafe.

"The most-reported types of complaints of gender-based violence against women and girls lodged with the de facto police, prosecution units, and courts were murder, including murder perpetrated for reasons of so-called 'honour',rape, causing injury or disability, and depriving a woman of inheritance," the report said.

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"The de facto Departments of Justice mostly received complaints of deprivation of inheritanceand prevention of possession of personal property while the de facto Departments of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice mostly received complaints of deprivation of inheritance, prohibition of marriage or choosing a spouse, forced marriage, and battery and laceration," it added.

Why this measure by the Taliban?

Citing the Taliban, the UNAMA report said that women were sent to prisons for their protection “akin to how prisons have been used to accommodate drug addicts and homeless people in Kabul.”

"Some de facto officials reported that to protect survivors, they requested a commitment – in some instances, sworn statements – from the survivor’s male relations that they would not harm the survivorand also invited local traditional elders to witness family members making this guarantee," the report further said.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, women and girls in the country have been increasingly confined to their homes. They are only allowed to study till the sixth grade and are barred from getting a university education. Females are also barred from public spaces and most jobs.

A fear of authorities

Many survivors of gender-based violence preferred seeking redress through traditional dispute resolution mechanisms because of fear of the de facto authorities, the UNAMA report said.

"The lack of clear delineation of responsibilities among the various de facto institutions on the handling of complaints of gender-based violence against women and girls and referrals between entities creates a gap in accountability for justice actors and makes it difficult for women and girls to know which entity to approach when they have a gender-based violence complaint," it said.

The UNAMA pointed out that an "absence of women personnel (in de facto institutions) and inherent cultural dynamics potentially inadvertently, and by default, discouraged and inhibited survivors from lodging complaints, contributing to survivors’ and/or at-risk women and girls’ lack of trust in the de facto justice system."

"There is no clear distinction by the de facto authorities between complaints of gender-based violence against women and girls of a criminal nature and those of a civil nature," the report further said.