By GRACE JENNINGS-EDQUIST
Brishna is only 10 years old and she’s survived a brutal rape.
Now, she must live in fear of death too, because her relatives reportedly want to dump her little body in a river for bringing “shame” upon the family.
Amnesty International reports a local mullah has been charged for the rape, while Brishna, from Kunduz Province in Afghanistan’s north, was taken to a shelter run by Women for Afghan Women for protection following the attack.
But local police have since returned the little girl back to her family – so Amnesty International is campaigning for the government to step in and protect Brishna, and to take a strong stance on so-called “honour killings”.
“Honour killings” are horrific murders carried out by family members when a woman or girl is seen as bringing dishonour or embarrassments on a family.
More than 240 cases of these killings were recorded by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission between January 2011 and May 2013, although it’s understood many of the killings are never reported.
Amnesty International gender equality campaigner Ming Yu told Mamamia while Afghanistan does have an Elimination of Violence against Women law, that law “does have a few weaknesses, such as the way so-called honour killings are addressed”.
Thus, Brishna’s case relies on the Afghan Penal Code — which, shockingly, reduces a sentence for murder in so-called “honour killings” to a term of the maximum of two years.
“Clearly this is something that does need to be addressed,” Ming Yu said. “That is unacceptable.”
She added that since the Taliban fell in 2011 “there’s been huge leaps forward for women’s and girl’s rights” – but that much more work was needed ” because attacks continue, day in, day out, all around Afghanistan“.
“We’ve seen a huge amounts of improvement, but there is a lot of damage that needs to be healed,” she said.
“The new President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani – this is a real opportunity for him to demonstrate his leadership on the global stage, and to show that women’s rights are priority in the future in Afghanistan.”
As for little Brishna, she needs to be kept safe – whether that’s by being returned to the women’s shelter or housed with other relatives.
Police and other authorities also needs to ensure Brishna’s mental and physical safety.
“That could be anything from the Afghan govenrment ensuring there are police that are protecting Brishna… to ensuring she has appropriate social and physical supports,” Ming Yu said.
Overall, however, the government needs to send a strong message to perpetrators that honour killings are unacceptable, Ming Yu said.
“Times are changing in Afghanistan,” she said, “and it’s the perpetrator of that rape, that needs to be punished and women need to be protected.”
You can sign Amnesty International’s petition asking President Ghani to clearly condemn ‘honour’ killings here.
Top Comments
This is what islams teaches, there is a reason why islamic countries look like this.
You need to understand that issues such as this have nothing to do whatsoever with Islam. Honor killings and such are strictly cultural customs, from cultures that existed in Afghanistan and other "Islamic" countries before the birth of Islam. Nor are honor killings exclusive to those countries. In fact, such a custom has been seen all over the world. There's nothing Islamic about this terrible thing, nor all the other types of violence against women or such. Islam does not condone them at all. Old cultures do. People need to learn to distinguish between the two.
In some parts of the world religion is simply an excuse to behave wickedly knowing that you'll get away with it.
I've lost patience with organised religions (in particular).........their transparent and childish rules are mainly focused on women because the religious texts were written by greedy, dysfunctional men who consider women to be slaves & inferiors.
One day I predict that the female victims of these crimes will revolt at the same time, in a way that will be so significant the balance of power in most places will shift to women.
The quiet groundswell of support is there - even from a huge percentage of inspired and enlightened men.
It's only a matter of time.......it's not far off............women know how to wait.