With another woman reported death in northern Faryab province, the number of victims of domestic violence reached six in a month. According to local sources, a 20-year-old woman was killed in Maymana, the provincial capital of Faryab, on Tuesday, September 12.
The alleged perpetrator, believed to be her husband and a resident of Pashtun Kot, has reportedly fled after the incident, according to details provided by sources to the KabulNow.
While the precise motivations behind the murder remain uncertain, preliminary investigations suggest long-standing family disputes may have been the catalyst.
Domestic violence and honor killing have long claimed the lives of women in Afghanistan. Over the past month alone, there have been five other women killed in Takhar, Sar-e-Pul, and Baghlan provinces. Most reported killings are believed to be instances of domestic violence or honor killings.
Cases of family violence are often under-reported as those involved prioritize protecting family honor in a traditional society. They are often seen as attempts to redeem family dignity.
According to the United Nations report 2019, in 80 percent of violence against women, the perpetrators were family members, primarily spouses. Reviewing 250 cases of honor killing over a two year period, the study found that only 18 percent of the perpetrators were convicted.
However, the situation has markedly deteriorated over the past two years since the return of the Taliban to power. The group has completely excluded women, stripping them of basic rights and freedoms through the most extreme forms of misogyny.
The de facto authorities have systematically dismantled the legal and institutional frameworks protecting women, destroying the modest but essential progress toward gender equality made possible over the past two decades.
Without women’s advocacy groups and official bodies that previously supported women, many victims are now trapped in cycles of violence with no recourse or pathways to justice.
The Taliban authorities in Faryab are yet to comment on the incident, a trend that only speaks to the women’s increasing challenge in seeking justice under their rule.
