OPINION | Girls Just Want to Break Free

Silently, the Taliban in Afghanistan legalized domestic violence against women and children as a form of discipline, having the authority on the hands of the men inside their homes.

Treated as “property with no legal agency of their own,” making the women as less unlike animals. Making the upper hand only for the men, leaving behind the women. Patriarchy has been long evident, entailing their religious beliefs, yet, with the new regulation, it is much more emphasized than it did before.

Under the new-90 page criminal code signed by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, the authority of women is also criminalized while physical abuse done by their husbands were just mere minor offenses; abuse is accepted as long as there are no open-wounds or injuries. Yet, how are they going to be able to show the judge what they are suffering from if these victims are all covered up as to respect their beliefs; an easy gateway for the abusers to avoid consequences.

This alone clearly shows that the long running violence against women and children kept on getting worse. While the rights of women are already being raised all over the world, the Afghan women are still stuck in a cycle of exclusion, where public life, authority, and basically their very own life is taken away from them.

They’ve suffered enough, being hidden in plain sight, beaten, not only by their husband, but the patriarchal system itself that locks them away from the world. Treating women lower than animals just like what the new regulation says already speaks how worse the situation is to them.

Let us all agree with one thing, what really is happening in Afghanistan is not just following their beliefs, but rather letting the dominance of men take over. Locking up the rights of women is already clear enough that this should end. Let the women and their children have their breaks, break free from the toxic patriarchy.