Afghan women and girls with disabilities face high barriers, discrimination, and sexual harassment in accessing government assistance, health care, and schools, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
In a 31-page report, HRW detailed the everyday barriers that Afghan women and girls with disabilities face in their country.
Government officials have sexually harassed women with disabilities, including when they visit ministries to claim disability benefits. The stigma associated with reporting abuse of this kind means that few women, especially those with disabilities, report those responsible, HRW said.
A woman in Kabul was quoted as saying: “I went to the ministry to get this certificate [for assistance]. They asked me whether I am married and when I said no, they told me that they can find me a husband. When I refused, the ministry employee told me that I can get this certificate only if I agree to be his girlfriend.”
An estimated80 percent of girls with disabilitiesare not enrolled in school, HRW said. Resistance from schools to accommodate children with disabilities, lack of dedicated transportation, and families’ reluctance to send children with disabilities to school are major factors preventing children with disabilities from attending school.
The group urged the Afghan government to develop sustainable solutions to increase access to quality, inclusive education for children with disabilities, particularly girls.
The report further said that Afghan women and girls with disabilities are frequently socially isolated, humiliated in public or within their own families, considered a source of shame for the family, or denied access to public spaces and community or family social events. “I’m supposed to get married, but my future in-laws think I cannot now,” said a woman injured during fighting in 2017. “I have no hope for the future, but if I get treatment, I would have hope.”
Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch and author of the report, said: “All Afghans with disabilities face stigma and discrimination in getting government services, but women and girls are the ‘invisible’ victims of this abuse.”
She added: “The Covid-19 crisis will make it even harder for women and girls with disabilities to get adequate health care.”
TheCovid-19pandemic exacerbates the problems faced by manypeople with disabilities. For Afghan women with disabilities who live in rural areas far from medical clinics, the absence of transportation, lack of paved roads, and long distances to clinics can create insurmountable barriers to obtaining health care, HRW said.
The Afghan government should urgently reform policies and practices that prevent women and girls with disabilities from enjoying their basic rights to health, education, and work. Afghanistan’s donors should support and advocate for the rights of all Afghans with disabilities, HRW said.
“In preparing for possible peace talks, Afghanistan’s leaders have generally ignored the large population of Afghans who have disabilities, many as a direct result of the conflict,” Gossman said. “The government needs to ensure that anyone with a disability gets the assistance they need, now and in the future.”
