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Last year, Time Magazine published a reportage with the picture of a young Afghan woman named Aisha whose nose and ears had been cut off by her abusive husband as punishment for running away. The 18-year-old was reportedly given away by her family in childhood as a “blood debt” and was subsequently married to a Taliban fighter. His family abused her and she ran away but was recaptured and mutilated by her husband. The US-based Foundation which ensured Aisha’s free plastic surgery in California organized a campaign on the issue of violence against women.
The Afghan criminal code does not consider running away from home as a crime, but consider zina, i.e sexual intercourse outside of marriage, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. However, law enforcement authorities often arrest, jail and even prosecute children and especially girls for running away, usually qualifying the charge as “intention” to commit zina. In March 2012, Human Rights Watch released a report based on interviews conducted in three prisons and three juvenile rehabilitation centers of Afghanistan with women and girls accused of these “moral crimes”. The report shows that almost all girls interviewed had been arrested for this type of crimes, while about half of women interviewed were arrested on these charges. Some of the women and girls interviewed had been convicted of zina, after being raped or forced into prostitution.
As far as the action of Terre des hommes Child Relief Foundation in Afghanistan is concerned, activities in favor of run-away children have been implemented since December 2008, through the Child Rights Consortium III in which two Afghan NGOs, Ashiana and LKRO, are contributing. Between April 2011 and April 2012, a total number of 41 children were assisted by the CRC partners, 23 male juveniles and 18 female juveniles. Out of these female juveniles, 17 cases were related to running away, fornication and adultery. The project officers worked in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, and Kandahar, with four types of stakeholders: the Child Protection Action Network, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, prosecutors and judiciary staff, and the child’s family in order to provide the child beneficiaries the appropriate legal and social aid during their detention. Moreover, the CRC partners ensured that the juveniles had available support, the court had the correct information and facilitated the reconciliation with the child family whenever possible.
The Government of Afghanistan has recently asked the Attorney General Office to stop prosecuting children for running away.
