Violence against women increased in every province of Afghanistan last year, according to Women’s Affairs Ministry statistics. Those numbers include self-immolations, a relatively new and disturbing trend in Afghanistan in which women set themselves on fire.
The desperation that leads to such acts has been attributed to domestic violence and forced marriages. At least 60 percent of Afghan women are in forced marriages, and 57 percent marry before they reach age 16, according to a report by the international rights group Womankind Worldwide.
Not for nothing, but this might be something to ask Laura Bush about during her next “My husband is attractive and powerful and an adequate lover” press conference.
A.