We all know a friend or family member who has had a scandalous affair with another person who is not their significant other and has seen the outcome which would usually be a divorce, break-up, etc. Then they would move on with their lives and all would be done and over with. But in ASADABAD, Kunar Province they do something a little different. Baad occurs which is a traditional Afghan form of justice where they take girls as payments for misdeeds committed by their elders.
Although Baad is illegal, it is still present and in the most recent case an 8 year old girl and her cousin were kidnapped and beaten by men carrying AK-47s.
“We did not know what was happening,” said Shakila, now about 10, who spoke softly as she repeated over and over her memory of being dragged from her family home. “They put us in a dark room with stone walls, it was dirty and they kept beating us with sticks and saying ‘your uncle ran away with our wife and dishonored us and we will beat you for retaliation.’ ”
Most of these cases never make it to court because of 2 reasons, "'First, the corrupt administration which openly demands money for every single case, and second, instability." So basically nothing is being done to stop this which is very sad.
So hitchhikers, what do you think should be done to stop this?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
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3 comments:
Unless this region is apart of the U.N. and are willing to have this be evaluated, there is nothing we can really do. According to the rules of the U.N., the coutnry where the issue is occuring must give permission to the U.N. to intervene. Without the permission, there is nothing we can really do. (If this was a civil war or such that would be a different issue.)
While I do think that this story is quite sad, I believe that we should also recognize that the culture and general treatment of women differs greatly in Afghanistan than in the United States.
Should we do anything about this specific incident or any other incidents like this? No. Any U.S. action akin to enforcing U.S. moral judgement upon the people of Afghanistan would be received by widespread backlash.
If we honestly want to try to lessen the incidence of these things from happening, we should first try to advance womens' rights in the region. The root of the issue is not the actual kidnapping occurrences themselves but the underlying cultural values in Afghanistan.
I agree with Andrew. The US cannot forcibly interfere with a culture without resentment in the area, and that would just discourage cooperation between US backed Kabul and the rest of the country.
A US backed women's rights group would still probably look like the US trying to impose its values onto Afghanistan and may encourage the currently delicate political situation to deteriorate further. It would probably require a women's rights movement organic to Afghanistan to cause any change, and that would be difficult considering the relative lack of media penetration in people's lives.
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