MARCHING BACKWARDS

Amnesty Reports Persecution of Afghan Women
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer
5/30/05

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan women are in constant risk of abduction, rape and forced marriage and the government is doing little to address their plight, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a report released Monday, 3 1/2 years after the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime.

A spokeswoman for the Afghan Women's Affairs Ministry, Nooria Haqnagar, acknowledged that abuse was still rife and said, "In some remote areas, men deal with women like animals."

Haqnagar, the spokeswoman, said the government was working to improve the lives of women, but that the number of abuse cases reported to authorities had increased in recent months. She said on average 10 women were lodging complaints every day.

"In Herat province, women are burning themselves to escape abuse. They must have huge problems to take such violent measures against themselves," she said.