HRW to Kabul: Fight sexual harassment

KABUL, employment and public life.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said there were no laws in Afghanistan that specifically prohibited sexual harassment or protected victims. Government institutions lack effective policies to prevent and punish sexual harassment. 

On October 5, President Ashraf Ghani described levels of sexual harassment in schools as shocking, ordering the Ministry of Education to report every incident to enable action against harassers.

“President Ghani’s recognition of sexual harassment in Afghanistan as ‘shocking’ is spot-on,” said Heather Barr, senior women’s rights researcher at HRW. “The Afghan government should promptly enact a law against sexual harassment and ensure that every government institution develops and implements an anti-sexual harassment policy.”

In a statement, the group called sexual harassment a major problem in Afghanistan, where women and girls had had to struggle to regain their rights after being completely shut out of education and employment during Taliban rule.

Sexual harassment within the workplace, including in government, was especially serious, HRW said, chiding government institutions for making no effort to prohibit harassment and assist victims. Only one government agency, the Independent Directorate of Local Governance, has developed anything resembling an anti-sexual harassment policy.

Women in the police force have faced particularly high levels of harassment and at times sexual assault, exacerbated by the government’s failure to provide women with safe working conditions, the statement added.

“Afghan women and girls should be able to study, work and participate in public life knowing that they will be treated with dignity and respect,” Barr said. “President Ghani has a unique opportunity to back sweeping reforms on sexual harassment that could dramatically change women’s role in Afghan society.”

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