Fact sheet: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

• Out of 1,327 incidents of Violence Against Women (VAW) in Afghanistan:
  • 30.7% were related to physical violence
  • 30.1% to psychological violence
  • 25.2% to sexual violence
  • and 14% were a combination of the three, including kidnapping [UNIFEM]
  
  
• 82% of incidents of VAW are committed by family members, 9% by the community and 1.7% by state authorities [UNIFEM]

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission registered 1,319 cases of SGBV in 2006: [AIHRC]

• 558 cases of severe beatings
• 213 cases of forced marriage
• 106 cases of self-immolation
• 50 cases of murder
• 41 cases of girl exchange
• 34 cases of rape
• 74 cases of women’s property taken away by husband’s relatives
• 198 cases of a lack of support from the husband
• 19 cases of prevention of women in social activities
• 12 cases of trafficking of girls

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (Legal Department) registered 2,239 cases of SGBV in 2006:

• 769 cases of forced marriage
• 1,011 cases of beatings
• 87 cases of murder
• 106 cases of self-immolation
• 33 cases of rape
• 20 cases of women’s property taken away by husband’s relatives
• 100 cases of lack of support from husband
• 69 cases of improper behavior
• 24 cases of abduction
• 10 cases of girls’ exchange
• 5 cases of trafficking of girls
• 3 women were accused of theft
• 2 cases of property withheld from natal home

Fact sheet: media

• As of April 2007, 208 (23.6%) out of the 881 staff members in the Government Press Sector were women [UNIFEM]

• One private daily newspaper in Kabul reported 20.9% of staff members are women [UNIFEM]

• At one private television station in Kabul, 202 (10.4%) out of the 1,950 staff members were women. (April 2007) [UNIFEM]

Fact sheet: security

• The number of of women in the police force has increased from 164 in 2005 to 275 in 2007 [UNIFEM]

• As of July 2007, women made up less than 0.5% of the total 75,353 police personnel in Afghanistan [UNIFEM]

• By rank, women police made up 2% of sergeants, 0.5% of officers, and 0.1% of soldiers [UNIFEM]

• There are no women police in the auxiliary police service [UNIFEM]

• Women made up 6.5% of administrative employees and 7.9% of contract workers and cleaners in the police force [UNIFEM]

• Of the total military personnel, only 259 (0.6%) were women, including 122 sergeants and 137 ordinary soldiers [UNIFEM]

Fact sheet: justice

• Of the 1,547 sitting judges in Afghanistan only 73 or 4.7% are female (July 2007) [UNIFEM]

• Of the 546 prosecutors, 35 or 6.4% are female (Dec 2006) [UNIFEM]

• Of the 1,241 attorneys 76 or 6.1% are female (Dec 2006) [UNIFEM]

• Only 1,325 out of 1,919 total posts are filled in the Ministry of Justice. Of those posts, 90 or 7.3% are held by women [HDR 04]

Fact sheet: political participation

Government Office

• Women represent 27% of the National Assembly: 68 out of 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga and 23 out of 102 seats in the Mesherano Jirga in 2007 [UNIFEM]

• As per the 2004 Constitution, 68 seats in the lower house are reserved for women [UNIFEM]

• In the 2005 election, 11.7% (or 317) of the candidates for the lower house of parliament and 7.5% (or 211) of candidates for the provincial council were women [UNIFEM]

• "20% more women are standing for the provincial council in this year's polls than those who stood last time." [UNAMA]

• Of the 420 seats in the Provincial Council, 124 are reserved for women. In 2005, there were not enough women to meet the quota at the Provincial Council elections, and 3 seats had to be given to men [UNIFEM]

• Only one cabinet member is female (the Minister of Women's Affairs) [UNIFEM]

• Out of the total 17 Ambassadors of Afghanistan to other countries in 2007, only two were women [UNIFEM]

Employment in the Government Sector

• From 2002 to 2008, the percent of female employees in the Ministry of Women's Affairs decreased from 76% to 58% [CSO]

• However, during the same period, the percent of female employees in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled increased by 43%, from 5.1% of employees in 2002 to 48% in 2008 [CSO]

• Females make up less than 10% of employees in 16 of the 25 Ministries (2008) [CSO]

• In 2008, 18.4% of all government workers were females, a decrease from 25.9% in 2005 [CSO]

• In the Wulus-e-Jirga and Meshrano Jirga in 2008, women made up 14% and 16% of all members, respectively [CSO]

• The number of female regular government employees decreased from 31.2% in 2005 to 22% in 2007 [NHDR 07]

• Women in government contractual service decreased from 10.3% in 2005 to 7.5% in 2006 [NHDR 07]

Fact sheet: labour

• Only 47% of working age females are currently active on the labour market, compared to 86% of males [NRVA 2007/8]

• In the agricultural sector, women are paid an average 54% of wages paid to men

• On a national average, women make up 70% of all manufacturing workers and 44% of agricultural workers [NRVA 2007/8]

• Women earn an average 49% of wages paid to men in non-farm occupations [UNIFEM]

• In 2004, 5.6% of businesses in Afghanistan were run by women [UNIFEM]

Fact sheet: marriage

• Women head 1.8% of households in rural and nomadic areas and 2.4% in urban areas (2005) [UNIFEM]

• An estimated 60 - 80% of women face forced marriages in Afghanistan (2007) [HDR 07]

• The mean age at marriage in Afghanistan is about 17.8 years for women and 25.3 years for men [UNIFEM]

• The mean age at first marriage of women is 17.9 years. Nine percent of women aged 20-49 were married before reaching age 15. This proportion has declined to three percent for those currently aged 15-19 [NRVA 2007/8 ]

• 57% of girls who are married do so before the legal age of 16 (2006) [UNIFEM]

• There are 1 million widows in Afghanistan [UNIFEM]

• In Kabul, the estimated 30,000 to 50,000 war widows are approximately 35 years old. 94% are unable to read and write and about 90% have children (2005) [UNIFEM]