A baby in a playpen is protected from harmful scenarios of the outside world. A child on a leash seems all too inappropriate. However, putting kids behind bars is just plain inhumane.
This isn’t an idea for a dark comedy sketch, but an occurrence in some Afghanistan prisons when women and their children are imprisoned.
Wait, there’s more!
Most of the women are jailed for zina or “moral crimes” under Islamic law, which include having an extramarital affair, running away from an abusive husband or murder by proxy. These crimes don’t even have to be directly committed by the woman. In fact, even accusations can land them in jail.
Documentary filmmaker Clementine Malpas and the non-profit Afghan Women’s Justice Project activists recently had supporters sign a petition to plead that President Hamid Karzai pardon rape-victim Gulnaz and her daughter.
Thanks to the 5,000 collected signatures, Gulnaz and her prison-born baby will be released. Originally, the two were to be freed under one condition:
Gulnaz must marry her rapist, and she has agreed to do so against her will.
However, the 21-year-old’s lawyer Kimberly Motley said it was clarified by President Karzai’s office that Gulnaz doesn’t have to marry her attacker.
More than 600 women and their children still remain in prison.
This goes beyond women’s and children’s rights, it’s a breach on human rights.
The American judicial system isn’t flawless, but Afghanistan’s judicial system should really consider following the due process model. According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
We can only hope that the mother and her child will be able to their lives in peace. Though Gulnaz may be freed, she and many other women are not truly liberated.
To read more on the Afghan Women’s Justice Project, click here.