Saturday, February 8, 2014

New Afghanistan law to silence victims of violence against women

This is just a small taste of how far Afghanistan will revert to it's Taliban days once the Western coalition leaves.  What small advances in women’s rights and democratic process that have been gained in the past 14 years will be gone in an instant. 

FROM BLAZINGCATFUR:

New Afghanistan law to silence victims of violence against women

A new Afghan law will allow men to attack their wives, children and sisters without fear of judicial punishment, undoing years of slow progress in tackling violence in a country blighted by so-called "honour" killings, forced marriage and vicious domestic abuse.

The small but significant change to Afghanistan's criminal prosecution code bans relatives of an accused person from testifying against them. Most violence against women in Afghanistan is within the family, so the law – passed by parliament but awaiting the signature of the president, Hamid Karzai – will effectively silence victims as well as most potential witnesses to their suffering.

Article continues HERE.