Article

2010-08-11 Afghanistan

Statistics show more Afghan women attempting suicide

Government statistics in Afghanistan have raised concerns that a growing number of Afghan women are attempting suicide.

The government says every year about 2,300 women or girls attempt to kill themselves, mainly due to mental illness, domestic violence and poverty.

Especially the domestic violence. Notice how HRW just buries that one in the sentence.

Rachel Reid, Afghan analyst from Human Rights Watch, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program there are a range of issues facing women in Afghanistan.

"There are extraordinarily high levels of child-enforced marriage, domestic violence, violence against women generally and huge cultural, social taboos on women seeking help when they've got problems," she said.

"So I have interviewed women in burns hospitals in Kabul who have tried to kill themselves and failed and talked to them about what drove them to it and there will be a litany of awful stories of generally domestic abuse and a feeling of complete helplessness."

Ah, progressive ideology: all cultures are relative and equally worthy. Except when they aren't. But when they aren't you can't do anything about it except study the problem. Fortunately the plight of these women will serve as material for Rachel's dissertation for her PhD in Gender Studies, so at least something good comes out of it ...

The report shows a several-fold increase in suicide attempt compared to 30 years ago, including more than 100 cases of self-immolation at Herat City Hospital in the past year, and an increase in the number of women using pharmaceuticals to kill themselves.

Ms Reid says despite this the report actually shows some promise.

"I was actually really encouraged the government was actually drawing attention to this and the government was being actually quite spot-on in terms of what was driving women to this," she said. "That in itself is quite a seachange over the past 10 years; that a government in Afghanistan would come out and say 'this is happening on a huge scale and we understand that what drives this' are quite difficult things to talk about."

Or that Karzai and his minions have found another way to milk the cow ...

The rights of Afghan women have been highlighted in the wake of a recent Time magazine cover in the US that featured the photo of an 18-year-old woman whose face had been mutilated by the Taliban.

Ms Reid says women's rights in Afghanistan are not just about the attitudes of the Taliban, but governments need to be aware of the attitudes of the Taliban towards women if they are looking towards a political settlement.

Need to be aware? Any intelligent person who's looked at Afghanistan already knows the attitude the Taliban takes towards women. I think the execution ceremonies in the soccer stadiums just a decade ago were all the education I needed about the Taliban's "attitude towards women". But perhaps Rachel is a little slow on the uptake.

"In terms of Afghan women's prospects they are pretty dismal at the moment," she said.

"They are already facing huge problems within their society and many of them pay a very heavy price in the conflict and desperately want it to end, but they also say that their rights might be sold out in hasty deals with the Taliban."

Their rights have been sold out anyways. It's been that way in Afghanistan for the last, oh, three or four millennia. Thanks for noticing, Rachel. By the way, what are you going to do about it? Besides write a thesis?

Posted by Delphi 2010-08-11 10:27|| || Front Page|| [11139 views ] Top

#1 Ah, progressive ideology: all cultures are relative and equally worthy. Except when they aren't. But when they aren't you can't do anything about it except study the problem. Fortunately the plight of these women will serve as material for Rachel's dissertation for her PhD in Gender Studies, so at least something good comes out of it ...

No kidding.

Some things just need to be torn down and reworked. I'm invading Afghanistan and starting an independent country. First, make it only available to women or the non-cultural specific people that don't lead to this situation. Oh, and no liberals.

Posted by miscellaneous 2010-08-11 17:13|| 2010-08-11 17:13|| Front Page Top

#2 actually women had quite a lot of rights comparably in Afghanistan way back a few decades ago before the recent crazy backwardised Sunni Qutb-followers from Saudi started spreading their ideology all over the planet with all that oil money. They were lawyers and doctors, they worked and didn't always wear headscarfs.

but now the taliban, the new dark ages.... make that time look like renaissance lost.

who could forget the Bamiyyan buddhas being blasted away... thousand year testimony to the peaceful Buddhist culture that once was the norm

Posted by anon1 2010-08-11 22:37|| 2010-08-11 22:37|| Front Page Top

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