Female inmates sue states for guards’ sex abuse

A recent research by Afghan link institution shows that female prisoners in most provinces of the country are being sexually abused by Guard men.

Afghan Link institution has began a research on female prisoners situations in Afghanistan jails.

The research indicates that female inmates face serious problems in prisons; in addition to sexual harassments, the female prisoners do not have access to the lawyers.

The inmates, some of whom are still in jail, claim that the guards were guilty of a host of unwanted sexual acts, including forcible rape, sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, oral sexual acts, sexual touching, voyeurism, invasion of personal privacy, demeaning sexual comments and intimidation to deter women prisoners from reporting such sexual misconduct.

However, the Ministry of Interior Affairs accepts female inmates problems but denies their sexual abuse by guard men.

“No cases of sexual harassments on women in prisons have not been recorded so far,” said Muhammad Arif Ahmadi, security deputy of interior ministry.

Afghanistan’s sexual harassment problem has held back the inclusion of women in society. Though girls’ access to education and women’s employment and participation in public life have improved since 2001, unchecked sexual harassment makes it hard for girls and women to take advantage of these new opportunities.

Lack of awareness, the absence of laws against harassment, a corrupt justice system, and indifferent police forces have aggravated the problem. While certain progress has been achieved in the capital, there is still a long way to go.