Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday withheld his signature and instead asked for revisions to a new law that rights activists had widely denounced as an obstacle to prosecuting crimes of violence against women.

A new draft law in Afghanistan that would limit testimony in domestic violence cases is drawing international outcry, with activists warning it is part of a broader trend toward rolling back women's rights in the nation.

It feels like a slap in the face of humanity: a new Afghan draft law effectively legalising domestic violence against women and children. If it were a movie this bill, which will automatically become law later this month unless President Hamid Karzai refuses to ratify it, would be called "The Patriarch Returns". So are we to take it that this is the price of peace?

Violent crime against women in Afghanistan hit record levels and became increasingly brutal in 2013, the head of the country's human rights commission said this weekend — a sign that hard won rights are being rolled back as foreign troops prepare to withdraw.

Afghanistan has its first female police chief after appointing an officer with 25 years experience to head a district of the capital Kabul.
Officials said Colonel Jamila Bayaz would run one of the city's most important police stations in a move that they hope will pave the way for more women to rise through the ranks.

Violence against women in Afghanistan reached record levels in 2013, according to the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan (AIHRC). Figures released last month show that the six-month period between March and September 2013 witnessed a 25 percent increase in recorded attacks.

Banned under strict refugee laws from applying for asylum from within her own country's borders, the former member of parliament Noorzia Atmar had no choice but to flee.

Britain will give £18.5 million to Afghanistan to help more Afghan women take part in the presidential election next April, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a country where women's' rights are still fiercely contested, Soosan Firooz has added a strong new voice to the debate in Afghanistan.

Aged just 23, the Afghan actress has become the nation's first female rapper, making her debut with a song that speaks directly to other Afghans who have shared her experiences of pain and exile as refugees.

A searching independent review finds that NATO and its operational partners have made ‘significant progress' in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo – but says there is ‘ample room for improvement'.