On Saturday, the Speaker of the Lower House of Afghan Parliament delayed a vote on the Elimination of Violence against Women law after two hours of vociferous debate between conservative religious and more liberal members of Parliament. The Speaker did not specify when the measure would be placed on the floor for a vote again.
A number of conservative members of Parliament (MPs) raised their voices against the measure, deeming it un-Islamic. Although the EVAW law was issued by the executive decree of President Hamid Karzai in 2009, women’s rights activist Fawzia Kofi, who also heads the women’s committee of the Lower House, decided to introduce the EVAW in Parliament. Kofi was concerned that without the EVAW being approved by Parliament, the decree might be reversed by a newly elected President in 2014. Karzai is term limited and cannot run again in 2014. Some Afghan women’s rights leaders opposed introducing the EFAW in Parliament for fear of having it defeated or repealed by conservative members.
According to the TOLO News “The parliamentarians who opposed the law call 6 of its articles to be against Islamic values.” These articles include criminalizing child marriage and forced marriage, banning the traditional “BAAD” practice of exchanging girls and girls and women to settle disputes between families, making domestic violence punishable up to three years in prison, protecting rape victims from prosecution for adultery or fornication, limiting the number of wives a man can have to two, and established shelters for battered women.
One of the conservative MPS suggested that the article to eliminate prosecution of raped women for adultery would lead to more extramarital sex, with women claiming they had been raped just to escape punishment. Others claimed that a husband has the right to discipline his wife.
“There’s a real risk this has opened a Pandora’s box, that this may have galvanized opposition to this decree by people who in principle oppose greater rights for women,” stated Heather Barr, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Media Resources: Associated Press 5/18/2013; TOLO News 5/18/2013
Woman in burka with child from Lizette Potgieter / Shutterstock.com
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4 comments
Moral Crimes in Afghanistan | Alexa says... says:
May 29, 2013
[...] [...]
zubaida Tahiri says:
Jul 3, 2013
I am sure incase the law was passed in parliament, even that time it was not easy to apply it in Afghanistan. I was present in a workshop arranged by Asia foundation that was held on this law. And it was said by some representatives that these law can be just used as a yard stick. But is doesn’t seems to be applicable indeed. And those parliamentarians who were war lords and they have got their wives in “Baad” and have been benefited from such disgusting traditions, it is ridiculous to expect them to vote for the law.
Shutting down the EVAW debate: a setback for women’s rights in Afghanistan? | The DiA Blog says:
Jul 5, 2013
[...] Law to Eliminate Violence against Women remains in force but the Speaker did not indicate when the law would to be put to the floor again for a vote. At a time when every effort must be made to protect the rights of women in Afghanistan, the future [...]
Where will Transition Take Women and Girls in Afghanistan? | In Asia says:
Dec 5, 2013
[…] to parliament in May in hopes that it would be passed. After a heated debate the parliament instead sent the law back to all 18 review committees to ensure it was in line with Afghan laws and Shariah. Instead of […]