A woman was beaten by a tribal elder over robbery suspicion in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan, local officials said Friday.
The incident took place in Balkhab district after the woman and her father were found guilty of robbery with the tribal elder who organized the trial sufficing on the sayings of an individual involved in superstitious practices – foreteller.
The 22-year-old woman who is a mother of two kids was beaten by the tribal elder in front of the local villagers after she interfered while her father was being beaten for robbery charges.
The provincial women’s affairs officials have said the woman is not in a good health condition and a case has been filed to investigate and try those involved in organizing the tribal court.
This comes as the Afghan women continue to suffer from maltreatment and domestic violence despite enormous investment and pledges by the international community to help improve women’s rights in Afghanistan.
The United Nations said in April this year that Afghanistan’s court system is failing to provide adequate access to women who are victims of violence.
In a report released on 19th April, “Justice through the eyes of Afghan Women,” the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said more women are turning to non-judicial methods, such as local mediation councils, rather than the traditional court system.
The 35-page report, produced in cooperation with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, is comprised of a series of interviews with 110 women across 18 of the nation’s provinces between August 2014 and February 2015. The vast majority of those interviewed chose to resolve their disputes through mediation rather than legal means.
Though the Elimination of Violence Against Women law, passed by presidential decree in 2009, criminalized 22 acts of violence, the U.N. found several factors that caused women to shun the court system.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/4036
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