NCJ Number
238966
Date Published
March 2012
Length
129 pages
Annotation
This report by Human Rights Watch examines the problem of women and young girls being imprisoned in Afghanistan for "moral crimes."
Abstract
This report examines the continued discrimination and abuses faced by women and young girls in Afghanistan despite the removal from power of the Taliban and the more democratic improvements made to Afghanistan society. The report looks in particular at the problem of women and young girls being imprisoned for committing the "moral crimes" of running away and zina, sexual intercourse by two individuals not married to each other. Data for the report were obtained by Human Rights Watch through interviews with 58 women and girls in 3 women's prisons and 3 juvenile rehabilitation centers, as well as with civil society members, prison wardens, prosecutors, government officials, shelter providers, women's rights activists, government advisors, and legal and women's rights experts. The report examines the Afghanistan penal code, which does not contain the crime of "running away", along with the country's international legal obligations which are in contrast to the country's law against the crime of zina. The report also examines the role that police, prosecutors, and judges have played and continue to play in perpetuating these injustices against women and young girls. A set of recommendations is included in the report aimed at getting the Afghan government and its international partners to act to end the abuses of women and young girls as described in this report.