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December 12, 2012

U.N.: Afghan Gov't Failing to Address Violence Against Women 
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The United Nations is accusing the Afghan government of failing to
protect the rights of women. In a new report, the United Nations says
Afghanistan has failed to uphold a landmark 2009 law on Elimination of
Violence Against Women. Georgette Gagnon, the head of the U.N.
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan's Human Rights Unit, unveiled the
report's findings.

Georgette Gagnon: "It's important to note that incidents of violence
against women still remain largely underreported due to cultural
constraints, social norms and taboos, customary practices in
discrimination against women. Also, prevailing insecurity and weak rule
of law have hampered women's access to formal justice institutions. We
are calling on the Afghan authorities to take, of course, much greater
steps to both facilitate reporting of incidents of violence against
women and actually open investigations and take on prosecutions."

 

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