May 26, 2005
We Don't Do That Here
Self-immolation by women in Afghanistan
Marzia, aged 15, has her burns cleaned at the Herat Public Hospital in Afghanistan. Terrified at the prospect of her husband's wrath after she short-circuited the television he had been saving for, she set fire to herself. Although no statistics are kept on female self-immolation, staff at the hospital estimate that they treated between 300 and 400 women with self-inflicted burns between November 2001 and February 2003. The suicide attempts make use of the kerosene used for cookers. Medical officers say that there were almost no similar cases under the Taliban regime, and some attribute the increase to a growing frustration as Western culture infiltrates Afghanistan, yet the position of women in society remains much the same. photo link
~Related:
Violence Against Women Rampant in Asia
"...the ouster of the conservative, Islamic Taliban regime in 2001 by U.S.-led forces did little to bring relief to women.
Across Afghanistan, but particularly in the western Herat region, Amnesty reported that hundreds of women had set fire to themselves to escape violence in the home or forced marriage.
"Fear of abductions by armed groups forced women to restrict their movements outside the home," Amnesty said. Even within families, "extreme restrictions" on women's behavior and high levels of violence persisted, it said.
~Photo from 2004; story from 2005.
Posted by Cieciel at May 26, 2005 09:47 AM