The Muslim Woman

A female, the most sublime creation of God, is merely an item of barter in Afghanistan. Although, the Taliban era has ended, yet the side effects remain. Debts are paid off, family feuds solved, murder accusation charges restrained, thanks to the daughters of the home who are exchanged for alleviating all such tension from their home. The brutal Taliban regime was an era of women harassment in which the women were forced to be only a decorative item of their households and never let to step out of the premises of their house. However, years after the brutal masters were thrown out, women in Afghanistan continue to suffer, now at the hand of their family. Unable to see their family through pain, few of the girls of the house offer to sacrifice their much-cherished freedom for the sake of rest of the members of the family. While others are forced into marriages against their wishes, in which they have to suffer as some are married to a person equivalent to the age of their father or in some cases the groom is their grandfather’s age. The poor and battered Afghanis have no option to pay off their long drawn debts, but to lend their girls in exchange to evade away their overdue amounts. Not only this, the girls are also used to mitigate any feudal differences, disputes and also to cleanse any charge of murder. It is really disheartening that even in this age, when women rights activists are on a high, females are traded off, forced into brothals, and married against their wish to live a life wiping their tears because of harassment at the hands of their in laws. Not only this, violence against the fair sex remains widespread in which they are beaten up to live a life of seclusion from the society. However, the lucky ones are those whose families have no debts to pay off or no disputes to settle. Only such among the poor Afghani families, girls can dream to step out of their homes and make a life of their own and not forced into marriages. Times can be expected to change, with the women rights activities gaining in importance, females themselves realizing and cherishing their freedom, and getting involved in activities from household chores to earning their livelihood that has helped in shedding the long drawn conservative outlook of traditionalists such as Shinwaris. And as time advances, educated Afghani youth have to take up cudgels against such traditional practices of bartering girls for any kind of activity. Only then the future of Afghani girls can be thought to be safe. Image Image2 Via: Usatoday

It is routine work for 43 year old Helen Rawlins. For years now she finds peace saving women forced into marriages. She knows the way the cruel world acts upon their daughters. She wants a change. She might not be able to change the mentality of the thousands who believe in what they call tradition, but she surely has been able to give a peaceful life to the girls who do not want to surrender to the ‘situation’. For the British Government, a forced marriage is a breach in human rights. As far as arranged marriage is concerned, it is acceptable if both partners agree to it. Most of the girls Rawlins attend to are shockingly very young. Early twenties, and some even legally not of marriagable age. Thankfully for the girls in Pakistan, mjany have found a way to use their burka to conceal a mobile phone- their tool to call for freedom. The Forced Marriage Unit operates from London. In Pakistan though, Helen Rawlins leads a team with concent of the Pakistan Authorities. It is a sigh of relief for girls who have supportive boyfriends to fight for them and bail them out. For others, it is a struggle alone. In Islamabad Khalida Salimi runs a shelter for women wanting to lead a life away from violence and forced marriages. Image Via: TheAge