Taliban Child Marriage Laws: Virgin’s silence is consent: Taliban faces backlash for ‘legitimising’ new child marriage laws in Afghanistan
NEW DELHI: Taliban has come under sharp criticism after formally recognising a new divorce law in Afghanistan that effectively legitimises child marriage and restricts girls from seeking divorce without their husband’s consent.The activists called the move “shameful” and warned that it could further erode women’s freedoms in the country.The 31-article regulation, titled “Principles of Separation Between Spouses,” outlines rules covering child marriage, missing husbands, forced separation, apostasy, accusations of adultery and other religious and legal matters.One of the most controversial provisions states that the silence of a “virgin girl” after reaching puberty may be interpreted as consent to marriage. The regulation says silence by a boy or a previously married woman, however, would not automatically count as consent.Under the new law, a woman cannot seek divorce solely on the grounds that her husband is missing or has failed to provide financial support.The legislation has triggered protests in Kabul this week, with women’s rights groups condemning it as a form of “institutionalised violence” against women and children.According to The Guardian, there are no official statistics on forced and underage marriage in Afghanistan, but activists claim that it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by the ban on girls being in education after the age of 11.As there have been no ban on child marriage in Afganistan, almost 70% had been pushed into early or forced marriage and that 66% of these marriages involved girls under the age of 18.“After issuing hundreds of anti-women decrees, the Taliban are now attempting to institutionalise child marriage within the formal legal structure”, said by an activist Fatima as reported by The Guardian.“Instead of ensuring security and justice, the Taliban are occupied with issuing shameful misogynistic decrees and suppressing human freedoms,” she added.Further, expressing concern over the legislation, Georgette Gagnon of UN Assistance Mission (UNAMA) said, “the new law was part of a broader and deeply concerning trajectory in which the rights of Afghan women and girls are being eroded, it entranches a system in which Afghan women and girls are denied autonomy, opportunity and access to justice.”Rejecting criticism of the legislation, a Taliban spokesperson told Taliban-run National Radio and Television, “We should pay no attention to the protests of those who are hostile, who have problems with Islam, with religion and with the foundations of the Islamic system.”Earlier this month, a 15-year girl from the Daikundi province of Central Afghanistan died after undergoing systematic abuse and violence from her husband, the outlet reported.According to her father she got married to her cousin eight months ago, but slipped into violence only within two months of the marriage.The Afghanistan Human Rights Center reported that, mostly victims of child marriages are vulnerable to domestic violence and severe psychological distress in Afghanistan.
