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Getting Burned in Pakistan: Report Finds Acid and Burn Attacks Against Women on the Rise

December 12, 2011 By 1 Comment

In Pakistan, like in many other South Asian countries, honor is a virtue that is not only valued but demanded from society, especially from women. Women who “dishonour” their families face severe consequences at the hands of a strongly patriarchal society who continues to see women secondary to men.

A new report from the AGHS Legal Cell has found that violence against women in the form of burning and acid attacks is on the rise in the country. Women who are seen as dishonoring their families are often the targets of these attacks.

Walking in public with a man who is unrelated to you could elicit an attack for it is often presumed that the woman is committing adultery. Fleeing an arranged marriage or a relationship where a woman is unhappy or being abused is another common reason for the attacks.

According to the report, from April to June of this year more than 220 women reported being burned, 40 of whom died as a result of their injuries which can be extensive. When acid is thrown in a person’s face, skin tissue melts on contact exposing the bone below the flesh that may also dissolve from the acid. If acid reaches the eyes, they are permanently damaged often leaving survivors with the use of only one or no eyes.

What’s worse? According to the report women are not being given appropriate medical care and few seek legal action after being attacked. Many cases are also not even reported to police so the actual numbers of victims are far worse than we think.

“Violence against women in Pakistan is endemic,” Nisha Varia, deputy director of women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch told The Media Line.” “We try to apply pressure so that the government recognizes these crimes, prosecutes the perpetrators and provides services to the victims.”

Acid and burn attacks are also not only isolated in Pakistan. It is also common practice in Bangladesh, India, and other South Asian countries. In Bangladesh, the Acid Survivors Foundation has been working for nearly ten years to eliminate acid violence in the country where there is currently an acid attack every two days. A similar organization also exists in Pakistan.

Violence against women exists everywhere. We know this. I also know that I can no longer sit idly as governments around the world fail to protect these victims.

Source: http://www.care2.com/causes/getting-burned-in-pakistan-report-finds-acid-and-burn-attacks-against-women-is-on-the-rise.html#ixzz1gJRZ9ghY

Filed Under: Campaigning, Corruption, Crime, Extremism, Law, Pakistan, Politics, Rights, Sexism, Torture, Tyranny, Violence, Women Tagged With: ,

Afghan Woman’s Choice: Marry Rapist Or Stay In Jail

December 2, 2011 By 1 Comment

This story is both outrageous and terribly sad.

Three weeks ago I wrote here about Gulnaz, a 19-year-old Afghan woman who was raped by her cousin’s husband, then charged with adultery and finally sentenced to 12 years in prison. Her baby girl, born following the rape, is serving her sentence with her.

The European Union commissioned Development Pictures to produce a documentary highlighting women’s rights issues in Afghanistan, but subsequently suppressed it for political reasons. The documentary tells Gulnaz’s story.

Gulnaz To Be Freed, But Must Marry Her Rapist

Now comes the news that Gulnaz is set to be freed, but only after agreeing to marry the man who raped her.

You read that right: President Hamid Karzai ordered Gulnaz to be released on condition that she agreed to become the second wife of her rapist – a prospect that supporters say she had dreaded.

The Afghan President got involved in the case of Gulnaz when the decision not to broadcast the film led to a storm of publicity, including a Care2 petition with over 90,000 signatures.

So first the 19-year-old is raped and becomes pregnant. This makes her guilty of adultery under Afghan law, and she is sentenced to 12 years in jail. As a final indignity, she can leave jail only by marrying her rapist. But it gets worse.

“He Had Filthy Clothes On…He Shut Me Up By Putting His Hands On My Mouth”

From CNN:

Even two years later, Gulnaz remembers the smell and state of her rapist’s clothes when he came into the house when her mother left for a brief visit to the hospital.

“He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work. When my mother went out, he came into my house and he closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth,” she said.

After the attack, she hid what happened as long as she could. But soon she began vomiting in the mornings and showing signs of pregnancy. It was her attacker’s child.

In Afghanistan, this brought her not sympathy, but prosecution. Aged just 19, she was found guilty by the courts of sex outside of marriage — adultery — and sentenced to twelve years in jail.

The only way around the dishonor of rape, or adultery in the eyes of Afghans, is to marry her attacker. This will, in the eyes of some, give her child a family and restore her honor. In order that she may stay with her child, Gulnaz is willing to do this.

Gulnaz Faced A Stark Choice

Gulnaz had a stark choice to make. Women in her situation are often killed for the shame their ordeal has brought the community. She is at risk, some say, from her attacker’s family. And her case is common to many women in Afghanistan.

Under Afghan law, Gulnaz has been judged an adulterer. Despite the ongoing dispute over her story, her predicament has not changed. She faced the hideous choice of 12 years in jail or marriage to her rapist and the risk of death.

Source: http://www.care2.com/causes/afghan-womans-choice-marry-rapist-or-stay-in-jail.html

Filed Under: Afghanistan, Rights, Tyranny, Violence, Women Tagged With: , ,