By: Raha
Zahra says her husband would sometimes beat her. But he would quickly apologize, and she would forgive him. It wasn’t the kind of life she wanted, but she didn’t complain about it much.
But things have become unbearable recently. “My life has turned into hell,” she said.
Zahra’s husband lost her job following the collapse of the former government. Emboldened by the Taliban’s misogynistic regulations, and angry due to poverty, her husband has become even more violent and abusive.
She alleges he looks for any excuse to give her a beating.
“My husband gets angry for no reason,” she said, weeping, adding that one day she was beaten in front of her children because she told him there was no food at home.
Once, he assaulted her so badly that she lost consciousness because she couldn’t iron his clothes due to power outage.
“I lost consciousness under his punches and kicks,” she said. “When I regained consciousness, my husband pulled me to the police station by force.”
At the station, her husband told the Taliban’s police that Zahra was a “disobedient” wife.
Then the Taliban told the 30-year-old mother of two that “your husband has the right to punish you in any way.”
Zahra isn’t the victim’s real name. She asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity.
Afghanistan has become one of the worst countries for women since the Taliban’s return to power.
The new rulers have imposed many restrictive regulations on women, almost completely wiping them from society. Millions of girls are out of school. Most women haven’t been allowed to return to work. They can’t travel long distances without a male family member accompanying them.
Domestic violence has also increased dramatically. Many men, like Zahra’s husband, lost their jobs, spending most of their time at home. They sometimes resort to violence against their wives out of frustration.
The government, now controlled by the world’s most misogynistic regime, has dissolved all organizations where women could go to report the violent and abusive behavior of their partners.
When she was taken to the police station, Zahra said she wasn’t even given the chance to defend herself.
“The Taliban did not allow me to speak,” she said, adding that they quickly concluded that she was disobedient.
Zahra alleges she tried to divorce her husband but she was unsuccessful. Divorce by women has become more difficult because the Taliban abolished all women’s rights laws and regulations which were passed to protect them during the two decades of western-backed government.
Zahra alleges that her husband has become so cruel that he has burnt her hands with lit cigarettes, leaving permanent scars on her body.
Women’s rights activists say Zahra isn’t alone. Many women face similar fate in the Taliban’s country.
Breshna Niazi, a former attorney who worked in the former government, said that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women are the main reason for the increase of domestic violence.
“In the previous government, many women worked as prosecutors and judges in the Afghan judicial system. There was a special court to deal with the demands of women who had experienced violence,” she said. “With the arrival of the Taliban in August last year, all female prosecutors and judges were dismissed. Meanwhile, all the institutions that supported women against violence were abolished.”
Niazi said now there is only one way to pressure the Taliban to change their policies toward women and to fight against domestic violence. And that one way is to call on the international community to get involved and pressure the Taliban.
