By Rukhshana Media
After the Taliban takeover of the country, survivors of gender-based violence are abandoned in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said in a new report released on Monday.
Amnesty International’s new report, which is based on interviews with survivors and service providers in 10 provinces, warned that women who lived in shelters and those who supported them “are now at risk of violence and death.”
“Women and girl survivors of gender-based violence have essentially been abandoned in Afghanistan. Their network of support has been dismantled, and their places of refuge have all but disappeared,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General is quoted as saying in the report.
With the Taliban takeover, the shelter system collapsed and all prisoners were released, among them are thousands of abusers who were charged with violence against women. This further puts in danger the survivors of gender-based violence, service providers, and prosecutors, according to the report.
Amnesty International’s report also confirms that after the collapse of the shelter system, the Taliban have transferred many survivors “into the detention system, including to Pul-e-Charkhi prison, near Kabul.”
“To protect women and girls from further violence, the Taliban must allow and support the reopening of shelters and the restoration of other protective services for survivors, reinstate the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and ensure that service providers can work freely and without fear of retaliation,” the Amnesty International’s Secretary General is quoted as saying in the report.
The report comes days after the Taliban’s first decree on women’s rights which does not mention education or work, the two areas where Afghan women and girls have faced the most restrictions.
