Afghanistanies are facing physical assault

Acknowledging that women in Afghanistan are facing physical assault, the United Nations has launched a global campaign seeking prevention of sexual abuse and other crimes against women in the war-torn country.

"Women and girls are at risk of rape in their homes, in their villages and in detention facilities," said Norah Niland, the top human rights official in Afghanistan.

"It is a human rights problem of profound proportions." The campaign is "an important reminder that women's rights are human rights," she added.

The two-week-long campaign 'Commit - Act - Demand: We Can End Violence Against Women' will begin from November 25.

The human rights unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) issued a report "Silence is Violence: End the Abuse of Women in Afghanistan", which finds the social-political conditions in Afghanistan exacerbate the problem of rape with women who are often raped within the family being prosecuted for committing zina or adultery.

The UN urged the Afghan government to make an explicit reference to rape in the country's law. "It's also a problem because there is very little possibility of finding justice, there is no explicit provision in the 1976 Afghan penal code that decriminalises rape".

The UN finds that post-Taliban women are still being attacked in public space and the conservative Afghan society remains intolerant of women making decisions for economic and social development.