Un-Justice
Suraya Pakzad believes the West has turned a blind eye to women’s rights. “They don’t take women’s issues seriously,” she says. “They are busy with security issues. They don’t think women are important elements to change the condition of Afghanistan. They think security is the priority and if they pay attention to that everything will be okay. They forget we are 50 per cent of the population of Afghanistan. We are able to improve the condition of the country if they do not ignore us.”
I can’t stop thinking of little Nadia, standing in the doorway crying as I left the Herat juvenile detention centre. I wonder if she has been released, and if she has married the 30-year-old man her father hadarranged for her. There is nobody she can appeal to. No social worker or police officer or government official who will intervene and prevent the terrible fate that awaits her. She, like thousands of other Afghan women, is trapped.
*Some names have been changed to protect identities.
Suraya Pakzad works for Voices of Women, an organisation that helps support girls in Herat Juvenile Detention Centre and the hospital Burns Unit.
Head to vwo.org.af to find out how you can help.
Lead Image: > Jamila who was admitted with burns to 45 per cent of her body and was lucky to survive.
