Maria Silveira | My Amplog

Women Choose Suicide in Afghanistan

Women in Afghanistan are choosing suicide to escape “their dire circumstances,” according to a new report issued by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department. Even in the relatively peaceful region of Herat, over 80 women reportedly set themselves on fire in 2008. Consider women’s situation in Afghanistan. Last year, a law was passed that legalized marital rape, and although President Hamid Karzai temporarily withdrew it due to international outrage, he pardoned two men guilty of gang rape. Human Rights Watch found in one survey that an astonishing 87 percent of female respondents had undergone “forced marriage or at least one form of physical, sexual or psychological violence.” (HRW) In addition, according to the Afghan Penal Code, victims of rape can be penalized for adultery. Read more at www.care2.com