Nowhere to hide
\n87 percent of Afghan women have experienced some form of physical, sexual or psychological violence
\n KABUL
\nMarried off at seven to a man old enough to be her great-grandfather, Fatema endured rapes, beatings and starvation until she could take no more and tried to kill herself.
\nThrough tears she recalls the beatings she received — like the time, aged 10, she was flung against a wall and \u201cmy head crashed against a nail… I almost died\u201d.
\nToday the 22-year-old is living in one of the few shelters for battered women still open in Afghanistan since the Taliban\u2019s August return to power, but is fearful she could lose her place at any time.
\nIf the refuge closes, Fatema will have nowhere to go. She has lost touch with her own family, while in-laws have vowed to kill her for dishonouring their name.
\nFatema\u2019s plight is shared by millions in Afghanistan, where patriarchal tradition, poverty and a lack of education have held back women\u2019s rights for decades.
\nAccording to the United Nations, 87 percent of Afghan women have experienced some form of physical, sexual or psychological violence.
\nDespite this, the country of 38 million had only 24 shelters dedicated to their care before the Taliban\u2019s return — almost all financed by the international community and frowned upon by many locals.
\n\u2018Start from scratch\u2019
\nSome NGOs running shelters stepped up their work long before the Taliban takeover.
\nThe director of one organisation told AFP she began moving women away from shelters in unstable provinces in advance of the US troop withdrawal.
\nSome were sent back to their blood relatives in the hope they would be offered protection from vengeful in-laws. Others were sent to shelters in bigger provincial capitals..
\nAs the Taliban onslaught continued the situation became desperate, and around 100 women were transferred to Kabul — only for the capital to fall.
\n\u201cWe have to start from scratch,\u201d says the director, who asked not to be named or the organisation identified while they navigated how to operate under the new regime.
\nThe Taliban insist their strict interpretation of the Koran provides women with rights and protection, but the reality is very different and they are slowly being squeezed out of public life.
\nMost secondary schools for girls are shut, women are barred from government employment apart from select specialised areas, and this week new guidelines stated they cannot undertake long journeys unless accompanied by a male relative.
\nThere has been some glimmer of light.
\nEarlier this month supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada denounced forced marriage, while Suhail Shaheen — the Taliban\u2019s would-be ambassador to the UN — told Amnesty International that women could go to court if they were victims of violence.
\nThe regime has not made any formal pronouncement on the future of shelters, although the refuges have not escaped their notice.
\nTaliban fighters and officials have paid several visits to the one housing Fatema and around 20 other women, according to employees.
\n\u201cThey came in, looked at the rooms, checked there were no men,\u201d said one worker.
\n\u201cThey said this is not a safe place for women, that their place is at home,\u201d said another. Still, it gave one woman hope.
\n\u201cIt was much better than we expected,\u201d the first worker told AFP.
\n\u2018Accused of lying\u2019
\nEven before the Taliban takeover many women in abusive households had little recourse.
\nZakia approached the Ministry of Women\u2019s Affairs — since shut down by the Taliban — for advice on how to escape a father-in-law who had threatened to kill her.
\n\u201cThey didn\u2019t even listen to me,\u201d she said, and told her that her situation was not that bad.
\nMina, 17, who ran away from an abusive uncle seven years ago with her younger sister, had a similar reception.
\n\u201cThe ministry accused me of lying,\u201d she told AFP.
\nAnd it is not just the women seeking shelter who are vulnerable, with Amnesty International saying shelter workers also \u201crisk violence and death\u201d.
\nSeveral staffers said they had been threatened over the phone by people claiming to be Taliban seeking the whereabouts of women who had fled their households.
\nCases of abuse are likely to rise with the virtual collapse of the economy bringing soaring unemployment, a cash-flow crisis and mounting hunger.
\n\u201cWhen the economic situation worsens, men are out of work, and cases of violence increase,\u201d one shelter worker said.
\n\u201cThe situation has probably worsened… services have generally decreased,\u201d said Alison Davidian, interim representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.
\nOne of the few shelters open — albeit discretely — is run by Mahbouba Seraj, a pioneer in the struggle for women\u2019s rights in the country.
\nAfter being inspected by the Taliban it was \u201ckind of left alone\u201d, she says, but her concern is now for the women trapped in abusive households who have nowhere to go.
\nZakia, at least, has shelter for now — but for how long?
\n\u201cMy own father said he didn\u2019t care about me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nowhere to hide 87 percent of Afghan women have experienced some form of physical, sexual or psychological violence KABUL Married off at seven to a man old enough to be her great-grandfather, Fatema endured rapes, beatings and starvation until she could take no more and tried to kill herself. Through tears she recalls the beatings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n