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Afghan Women with Disabilities Face Systemic Abuse: Watchdog

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on Tuesday focused on Afghan women and girls with disabilities who face high barriers, discrimination, and sexual harassment in attempts to access government assistance, health care, and schools.

Their 31-page report, titled “Disability Is Not a Weakness,” describes in detail the daily barriers that Afghan women and girls with disabilities face in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The Human Rights Watch report included interviews with 26 women and girls with disabilities and their families in the cities of Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, as well as with 14 health and educational professionals in the same cities.

The report states that the Afghan government should urgently reform policies and practices that prevent women and girls with disabilities from enjoying their basic rights to health, education, and work. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s donors should also support and advocate for the rights of all Afghans with disabilities.

“All Afghans with disabilities face stigma and discrimination in getting government services, but women and girls are the ‘invisible’ victims of this abuse,” writes Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The Covid-19 crisis will make it even harder for women and girls with disabilities to get adequate health care.”

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates the problems faced by many people with disabilities. For disabled Afghan women who live in rural areas far from medical clinics, the absence of transportation, lack of paved roads, and long distances to clinics can create insurmountable barriers to obtaining health care, said the report.

Human Rights Watch in the study called on the Afghan government to undertake a “comprehensive review of health services for people with disabilities, particularly in rural areas, to improve outreach and access.”

Providing context, the report said that Afghanistan has “one of the world’s largest populations per capita of people with disabilities, where more than four decades of war have left millions of Afghans with amputated limbs, visual or hearing disabilities, and depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress.”

The Human Rights Watch concluded that the “under-resourced Afghan health services are failing to meet the required needs of this population, and women and girls with disabilities are far less likely to obtain any assistance.”

Alarmingly, the report further indicates that government officials have sexually harassed women with disabilities on several occasions, including when they visit ministries to claim disability benefits.

What allows this systemic abuse to continue, according to the report, is the stigma of reporting abuse of this kind.  A woman in Kabul was quoted as saying: “I went to the ministry to get this certificate [for assistance]. They asked me whether I am married and when I said no, they told me that they can find me a husband. When I refused, the ministry employee told me that I can get this certificate only if I agree to be his girlfriend.”

The report says: “Entrenched discrimination means that people with disabilities face significant obstacles to education, employment, health care, and rights guaranteed under the Afghan constitution and international human rights law. For instance, many people with disabilities in Afghanistan have been unable to acquire a national identity card needed to obtain many government services.”

Providing figures, the report said that an “estimated 80 percent of girls with disabilities are not enrolled in school. Resistance from schools to accommodate children with disabilities, lack of dedicated transportation, and families’ reluctance to send their disabled children for an education are major factors preventing children with disabilities from attending school.”

Another conclusion of the report was that the Afghan government should “develop sustainable solutions to increase access to quality and inclusive education for children with disabilities, particularly girls,” as girls with disabilities are “far more likely to be kept home from school because of compounded socio-economic barriers and violence.”

The report quoted an official working with a humanitarian group who stated that children with disabilities “cannot go to regular schools due to lack of ramps. In some cases, the school principals do not want to enro;l them, because they need to be taken care of.”

Even at home, disabled Afghan women and girls cannot always find solace and support, as they are “frequently isolated socially, humiliated in public or within their own families, considered a source of shame for the family, or denied access to public spaces and community or family social events.”

 “I’m supposed to get married, but my future in-laws think I cannot now,” said a woman injured during a fight in 2017, “I have no hope for the future, but if I get treatment, I would have hope.”

“In preparing for possible peace talks, Afghanistan’s leaders have generally ignored the large population of Afghans who have disabilities, many as a direct result of the conflict,” HRW’s Patricia Gossman stated. “The government needs to ensure that anyone with a disability gets the assistance they need, now and in the future.”

Afghan Women with Disabilities Face Systemic Abuse: Watchdog

The HRW report describes the daily barriers women and girls with disabilities face in the country.

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on Tuesday focused on Afghan women and girls with disabilities who face high barriers, discrimination, and sexual harassment in attempts to access government assistance, health care, and schools.

Their 31-page report, titled “Disability Is Not a Weakness,” describes in detail the daily barriers that Afghan women and girls with disabilities face in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The Human Rights Watch report included interviews with 26 women and girls with disabilities and their families in the cities of Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, as well as with 14 health and educational professionals in the same cities.

The report states that the Afghan government should urgently reform policies and practices that prevent women and girls with disabilities from enjoying their basic rights to health, education, and work. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s donors should also support and advocate for the rights of all Afghans with disabilities.

“All Afghans with disabilities face stigma and discrimination in getting government services, but women and girls are the ‘invisible’ victims of this abuse,” writes Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “The Covid-19 crisis will make it even harder for women and girls with disabilities to get adequate health care.”

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates the problems faced by many people with disabilities. For disabled Afghan women who live in rural areas far from medical clinics, the absence of transportation, lack of paved roads, and long distances to clinics can create insurmountable barriers to obtaining health care, said the report.

Human Rights Watch in the study called on the Afghan government to undertake a “comprehensive review of health services for people with disabilities, particularly in rural areas, to improve outreach and access.”

Providing context, the report said that Afghanistan has “one of the world’s largest populations per capita of people with disabilities, where more than four decades of war have left millions of Afghans with amputated limbs, visual or hearing disabilities, and depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress.”

The Human Rights Watch concluded that the “under-resourced Afghan health services are failing to meet the required needs of this population, and women and girls with disabilities are far less likely to obtain any assistance.”

Alarmingly, the report further indicates that government officials have sexually harassed women with disabilities on several occasions, including when they visit ministries to claim disability benefits.

What allows this systemic abuse to continue, according to the report, is the stigma of reporting abuse of this kind.  A woman in Kabul was quoted as saying: “I went to the ministry to get this certificate [for assistance]. They asked me whether I am married and when I said no, they told me that they can find me a husband. When I refused, the ministry employee told me that I can get this certificate only if I agree to be his girlfriend.”

The report says: “Entrenched discrimination means that people with disabilities face significant obstacles to education, employment, health care, and rights guaranteed under the Afghan constitution and international human rights law. For instance, many people with disabilities in Afghanistan have been unable to acquire a national identity card needed to obtain many government services.”

Providing figures, the report said that an “estimated 80 percent of girls with disabilities are not enrolled in school. Resistance from schools to accommodate children with disabilities, lack of dedicated transportation, and families’ reluctance to send their disabled children for an education are major factors preventing children with disabilities from attending school.”

Another conclusion of the report was that the Afghan government should “develop sustainable solutions to increase access to quality and inclusive education for children with disabilities, particularly girls,” as girls with disabilities are “far more likely to be kept home from school because of compounded socio-economic barriers and violence.”

The report quoted an official working with a humanitarian group who stated that children with disabilities “cannot go to regular schools due to lack of ramps. In some cases, the school principals do not want to enro;l them, because they need to be taken care of.”

Even at home, disabled Afghan women and girls cannot always find solace and support, as they are “frequently isolated socially, humiliated in public or within their own families, considered a source of shame for the family, or denied access to public spaces and community or family social events.”

 “I’m supposed to get married, but my future in-laws think I cannot now,” said a woman injured during a fight in 2017, “I have no hope for the future, but if I get treatment, I would have hope.”

“In preparing for possible peace talks, Afghanistan’s leaders have generally ignored the large population of Afghans who have disabilities, many as a direct result of the conflict,” HRW’s Patricia Gossman stated. “The government needs to ensure that anyone with a disability gets the assistance they need, now and in the future.”

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