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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years
of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Afghanistan.htm
Afghanistan is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for
the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Afghan boys
and girls are trafficked within the country for commercial sexual
exploitation, forced marriage to settle debts or disputes, forced begging, as
well as forced labor or debt bondage in brick kilns, carpet-making factories,
and domestic service. Afghan children are also trafficked to Iran and
Pakistan for forced labor, particularly in Pakistan’s carpet factories, and
forced marriage. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country
report] |
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CAUTION:
The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate
the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Out Of Money? Sell Your Daughter Haytullah Gaheez,
Jewish World Review, February 16, 2005 www.jewishworldreview.com/0205/selling_daughters.php3?printer_friendly [accessed 18 January 2011] Zeva's eyes filled with
tears as the 10-year-old's father took her by the arm and handed her over to
the man from whom he had borrowed 50,000 afghanis,
or about $1,000. "I cannot pay
you in any other way. Take my daughter," said Gul
Miran, 42, a farmer in Nangarhar
province. Like many other farmers in "I accepted the girl in return for my
loan," said Haji Naqibullah, who had advanced Gul Miran the money. "We
had an agreement. He would (pay me back) regardless of whether his crops were
wiped out by the weather or by the government. "In a year or 18 months I will marry
her off to my youngest son," he said. "He is 19 years old and has
been married to his first wife for two years but has not had a child
yet." Afghan carpet weavers are unpaid slaves,
rights activist says Syrian Arab News Agency [accessed 18 January 2011] Women choose death over marriage James Astill in At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 3 September 2011] "Every minute
of every day, she was fetching water, growing crops, looking after animals
and children, cleaning the house. She was patient, but it was too much for
her: she was educated and sensitive. She found it hard to live like a
slave." She was not alone
in her suffering, nor in the agonising way she chose to die. Anecdotal evidence suggests several hundred
young women are burning themselves to death in western ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/afghanistan.htm [accessed 18 January 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Afghanistan is a country of origin and transit for
children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced marriage,
labor, domestic servitude, slavery, crime, and the removal of body
organs. Since early 2003, there have
been increasing reports of children reported as missing throughout the
country. It is also reported that
impoverished Afghan families have sold their children into forced sexual
exploitation, marriage, and labor. Human Rights
Reports » 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78868.htm [accessed 18 January 2011] WOMEN – Forced marriages
continued to be a widespread problem. Previous AIHRC reporting estimated that
60 to 80 percent of all marriages were forced. The AIHRC estimated that
approximately 40 percent of marriages were forced, and distinguished this
category from another 20 percent of marriages that were "arranged,"
in which the woman was not allowed to choose her own spouse but may opt not
to marry the man chosen for her by her family. During the year the AIHRC
recorded 213 cases of forced marriages. There were 106 reported cases of
self-immolation, several of which were women protesting a forced marriage. Exchanging or
selling women or girls remained a customary method of resolving disputes or
satisfying debts, even though it was outlawed by presidential decree. For
example, according to the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Rosina, 18,
was sold into marriage by her father to a man in his fifties. When she
refused she was beaten. During the year the
AIHRC recorded 41 cases of women being given to another family to settle disputes;
however, the AIHRC believes the number of actual cases to be much higher. In
the early part of the year, there was a very high-profile case involving a
13-year-old who was engaged to the son of an influential politician in Badakhshan province. She refused to marry the man and was
threatened with stoning by residents of her village. The case eventually went
to the Supreme Court; however, quiet negotiations involving local and central
government led the case to be dropped and mediated informally. The girl did
not have to marry the politician's son. Honor killings also
continued to be a problem. The AIHRC documented a total of 50 cases
throughout the year. During the year the AIHRC reported a case in which a
girl was raped by her brother. A resulting pregnancy forced the girl to
reveal the incident to her parents. In order to save the family's reputation
the parents set the girl on fire. She died three days later. At year's end
authorities had not investigated this case. There were no further developments
in the December 2005 case of an honor killing in the Watapour
District of Konar Province. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61704.htm [accessed 18 January 2011] TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS
– The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, traffickers
could be prosecuted under other laws. The country was a source and transit
point for trafficked persons. A 2003 IOM report noted qualitative and
anecdotal evidence of increased trafficking in girls and children to There were
continued reports of poor families promising young girls in marriage to
satisfy family debts. There were a number of reports that children,
particularly from the south and southeast, were trafficked to UN Integrated
Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73300 [accessed 18
January 2011] According to Paktiawal, among trafficking victims were tens of Afghan
children, boys and girls, who had been taken to neighbouring
countries for forced servitude, sexual exploitation and other illegal
purposes. Inside Human trafficking in World War 4
Report, November 18, 2006 [accessed 18
January 2011] Also it is reported
that selling of women has become very common in Faryab
province in north of Opium Trade in Lisa Schlein Report, Voice of At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 3 September 2011] The IOM says
children are trafficked within the country to work as beggars or as bonded
labor in the brick kiln and carpet making industries. It says women and girls
are kidnapped or sold for forced marriages. They are pushed into prostitution
and sometimes used to settle debts or to resolve conflicts. Internationally, IOM says Afghan women and
girls are being trafficked primarily to Afghan carpet weavers are unpaid slaves,
rights activist says Syrian Arab News Agency [accessed 18 January 2011] Love Afghan Style: Women Are Still Being Used As Currency
In The Marriage Market Parwin Mohmand,
The Women’s Reporting & Dialogue Programme,
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, WPR Issue 2, Kabul, 17 Nov 2005 iwpr.net/report-news/love-afghan-style [accessed 18 January 2011] Zakira was given away in
marriage to stop a blood feud. Her uncle had murdered a man and, rather than
start a round of revenge killings between the families, 20-year-old Zakira was bestowed on the murdered man's brother who
happened to be three times her age.
Forced marriages have long been a custom in Out Of Money? Sell Your Daughter Haytullah Gaheez,
Jewish World Review, February 16, 2005 www.jewishworldreview.com/0205/selling_daughters.php3?printer_friendly [accessed 18 January 2011] Zeva's eyes filled with
tears as the 10-year-old's father took her by the arm and handed her over to
the man from whom he had borrowed 50,000 afghanis,
or about $1,000. "I cannot pay
you in any other way. Take my daughter," said Gul
Miran, 42, a farmer in Nangarhar
province. Like many other farmers in "I accepted the girl in return for my
loan," said Haji Naqibullah, who had advanced Gul Miran the money. "We
had an agreement. He would (pay me back) regardless of whether his crops were
wiped out by the weather or by the government. "In a year or 18 months I will marry
her off to my youngest son," he said. "He is 19 years old and has
been married to his first wife for two years but has not had a child
yet." Freedom Or Theocracy?: Constitutionalism in www.law.northwestern.edu/journals/jihr/v3/4/ [accessed 18 January 2011] ¶ 69 The authorities
in New rights, but Afghan women still may face forced
marriages New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2005/03/14/world/asia/14iht-afghan.html?_r=2 [accessed 18 January 2011] Fourteen year-old Bibi has never seen the father who wants to sell her into
marriage with a stranger. She hid when
he sent police to her village home in northern A Shared Suffering Anara Tabyshalieva
- The Women’s Reporting & Dialogue Programme,
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, WPR Issue 1, November 17, 2005 iwpr.net/report-news/shared-suffering-0 [accessed 18 January 2011] The custom of bride
kidnapping still ruins the life of both women and men in Watchlist
Country Reports | Watchlist on Children and
Armed Conflict www.watchlist.org/reports/files/afghanistan.report.php [accessed 18 January 2011] TRAFFICKING AND
EXPLOITATION
- Female trafficking for sexual purposes is a thriving business in Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil
Liberties: 6 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/afghanistan [accessed 26 June 2012] Human Rights Overview by Human Rights
Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide [accessed 18 January
2011] We will have our say Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/16/afghanistan.duncancampbell [accessed 18 January 2011] "But civil
rights for women?" she says. "Light years off." The major
problems for women remain a lack of opportunity and fear for their personal
safety at home, says Le Duc. She points out that
the mistreatment of women flourished under the mujahideen.
Now, she says,
women who work can still be dismissed by men as "whores".
"Women say that men don't know how to behave towards them," says Le
Duc. "Not a week goes by without a report of a
gang rape by a warlord, or a woman beaten almost to death by her husband.
Women are still valued for their reproductive rather than their productive
role." 2,000 former Afghan child soldiers to be
demobilized and rehabilitated UNICEF Press Centre, www.unicef.org/media/media_19165.html [accessed 18 January 2011] UNICEF estimates that
there a total of 8,000 former child soldiers in Free the Refugees Joy Goodsell,
Refugee Advocate & Sandy McCutcheon, Presenter, Radio National -
Perspective, 22 March 2004 www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/perspective/joy-goodsell/3376668 [accessed 18 April 2012] The family I stayed
with showed me how they all huddled in a corner, praying that they would be
spared, during three months of rocket attacks. Rape, abduction of women and
children, kidnappings and home invasions or forced land acquisitions are
still commonplace. Women choose death over marriage James Astill in At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 3 September 2011] "Every minute
of every day, she was fetching water, growing crops, looking after animals
and children, cleaning the house. She was patient, but it was too much for
her: she was educated and sensitive. She found it hard to live like a
slave." She was not alone
in her suffering, nor in the agonising way she chose to die. Anecdotal evidence suggests several
hundred young women are burning themselves to death in western A government
mission sent to investigate the problem in Forced marriages contributing to women
suicides in Afghanistan Reuters, www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-2-2004_pg4_21 [accessed 18 April 2012] Forced marriages
and a lack of education were contributing to a recent spate of suicide
attempts among women in “Among the rest
there could be more suicides but you know, according to Afghan tradition,
people are not ready to talk about suicide, it is taboo and they try to hide
it.” She said neither the police nor a government delegation sent to Jeffrey Donovan, Radio Free Europe – Radio www.rferl.org/content/article/1051818.html [accessed 18 April 2012] "A great deal
is better for the Afghan woman. She can go outside without the Taliban in
tow, but she's harassed by a lot of armed men. She can go if she wants a job,
but there are not jobs available for her to do. She wants to be healthy, but
there's not a health care system there. The worst part is that she does not
have the right to choose who she wants to marry," Shorish-Shamley
said. The issue of forced
Afghan marriages is making headlines in the Western press. Several newspapers
and broadcasters have recently carried stories about a recent string of
self-immolations by Afghan women in despair over forced marriages, domestic
violence and a lack of respect for their rights. Forced Marriages, Beatings, Suicides
Persist Despite Taliban's Fall Anna Badkhen, San
Francisco Chronicle, April 16, 2004 www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0416-07.htm [accessed 18 January 2011] For four months,
the 21-year-old civil liberties activist has been teaching 120 local women
and girls to read, write, take care of their health and not be afraid to
stand up for their rights. But two months ago, her work at the They made clear to
her that because she is an Afghan woman, she has no rights. In February, Ghazal's parents informed her
that they had engaged her to marry her cousin, Rafi, 28, an unemployed
carpenter in the tiny Campaign under way to raise awareness of
child trafficking UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=23128 [accessed 1 September 2011] According to the Afghan
Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), human trafficking - particularly
child kidnapping and abduction - were identified as one of the most serious
rights violations in recent months in AIHRC said that
although exact figures were hard to come by, in the last five months of 2003
over 300 complaints had been received from the families of children who had
disappeared. "The commission is aware that many children are flown to
Gulf countries, in particular Still an important source for human
trafficking - IOM report UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=22827 [accessed 3 September 2011] A new report by the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) argues that IOM said it had
learnt that there were many forms of trafficking practiced in Post-Taleban,
post-war - justice for women in Amnesty International, October 6 2003 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 3 September 2011] Two years after the
beginning of the military action against the Taleban,
the women of Afghanistan are still subject to horrific abuses, from honour killings to forced and underage marriage,
virginity testing, and prosecution and imprisonment for adultery, said
Amnesty International in a major new report published today (6 October 2003). 'No one listens to
us and no one treats us as human beings: Afghanistan - Justice denied to
women is based on interviews with women in many parts of Afghanistan and
finds that the day-to-day lives of many Afghan women are little changed from
the oppression they endured under the Taleban. Afghan Women Fight for Citizenship Jodi Enda,
Women's eNews, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 3 September 2011] FEW GUARANTEES FOR
WOMEN
- Afghan women who attended the September conference "felt that because
of the recent history of abuses, it was very important to very specifically
list rights of women. That really hasn't happened in this document,"
Sultan said. "It doesn't outlaw discrimination based on gender. It
doesn't talk about the rights of inheritance and property. It doesn't address
the exchange of women in terms of disputes between families." Although members of
a constitutional commission reviewed a women's bill of rights composed at the
Millions Suffer in Sex Slavery United Press International UPI, Chicago,
April 24, 2001 archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/4/23/184354.shtml [accessed 18 January 2011] AMONG THE OTHER
FINDINGS: ·
Afghani women are sold into prostitution in All
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