Of Protection the Pitfalls

WIMPELMANN torunn wimpelmann | THE PITFALLS OF PROTECTION THE PITFALLS THE PITFALLS OF PROTECTION gender, violence, and power in afghanistan Luminos is the open access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org The Pitfalls of Protection The Pitfalls of Protection Gender, Violence, and Power in Afghanistan Torunn Wimpelmann UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2017 by The Regents of the University of California Suggested citation: Wimpelmann, Torunn. The Pitfalls of Protection: Gender, Violence, and Power in Afghanistan. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. doi: http://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.32 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons [CC-BY-NC-ND] license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wimpelmann, Torunn, author. Title: The pitfalls of protection : gender, violence and power in Afghanistan / Torunn Wimpelmann. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017001096 (print) | LCCN 2017003969 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520293199 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520966390 () Subjects: LCSH: Women—Afghanistan—Social conditions—21st century. | Women’s rights—Afghanistan—21st century. | Women—Violence against—Afghanistan—21st century. | Sex crimes—Afghanistan—21st century. | Afghanistan—Politics and government—21st century. Classification: LCC HQ1735.6 .W54 2017 (print) | LCC HQ1735.6 (ebook) | DDC 305.409581/0905—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001096 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Abbreviations vii Note on Language ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Politics of Violence against Women 1 Part I. Legal Regimes 1. Intrusions, Invasions, and Interventions: Histories of Gender, Justice, and Governance in Afghanistan 27 2. “Good Women Have No Need for This Law”: The Battles over the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women 51 Part II. New Protection Mechanisms 3. Brokers of Justice: The Special Prosecution Unit for Crimes of Violence against Women in Kabul 85 4. With a Little Help from the War on Terror: The Women’s Shelters 108 Part III. Individual Cases 5. Runaway Women 131 6. Upholding Citizen Honor? Rape in the Courts and Beyond 152 Conclusions: Protection at a Price? 169 vi Contents Notes 181 References 197 Index 207 Abbreviations AIHRC Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission ALP Afghan Local Police AWN Afghan Women’s Network CLRWG Criminal Law Reform Working Group DOWA Department of Women’s Affairs EVAW Elimination of Violence against Women IDLO International Development Law Organization ISAF International Security Assistance Force MOWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs PDPA People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women (merged into UNWOMEN in 2011) UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime USAID United States Agency for International Development WAW Women for Afghan Women vii Note on Language The official languages of Afghanistan—and those most widely spoken—are Dari (a dialect of Persian) and Pashto. Both contain a number of Arabic loanwords. For words that have become common in English, such as sharia, ulema, and mullah, I have used the established form. Words less common in English appear in italics throughout the text, with a brief explanation the first time they are used. ix Acknowledgments When carrying out this research, I benefitted from the support, insight, and in- spiration of numerous people. I am deeply grateful to the Research Council of Norway for financially supporting this work through the grantsViolence in the Post-Conflict State (project number 190119), Governance, Justice, and Gender in Afghanistan: Between Informal and Formal Dynamics (project number 199437) and Violence against Women and Criminal Justice in Afghanistan (project number 230315). Chr. Michelsen Institute, where I have been employed throughout this research, has been a great institutional home, and I wish to thank my colleagues there for their encouragement and help. My debt and sense of gratitude to Astri Suhrke for her advice, enthusiasm, mentoring, and great company are enormous. In more than one way, this project could never have been realized without her. Arne Strand first introduced me to Kabul and gave me the confidence to carry out fieldwork in Afghanistan again and again. Karin Ask provided invaluable suggestions at important junctures of this work. Deniz Kandiyoti has been an immensely generous, inspiring, and thorough su- pervisor, and I cannot thank her enough for agreeing to take on this role, for her many pieces of crucial advice, and for her close reading of my drafts. In Afghanistan, numerous people shared their time, knowledge and company. Above all, I want to thank Mohammad Jawad Shahabi. His research assistance during the first part of this work and our subsequent collaboration on what is now chapter 3 of this book have been invaluable. I remain immeasurably grateful for his insights, skills, and efforts over the years. xi xii Acknowledgments I am also very grateful to Farangis Elyassi for her committed and skillful data collection in the special prosecution unit for crimes of violence against women. Orzala Ashraf Nemat introduced me to the world of women’s activism in Ka- bul, provided friendship over many years, and has been instrumental to my initial understanding of the politics of law reform in Afghanistan. The Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU) and Peace Training and Research Organization (PTRO) were ideal places to be based and their staff great colleagues. I am grateful to Mirwais Wardak for his help in facilitating my stay at both places and for numerous stimulating conversations. Wazhma Forough and her staff at the Research Institute for Women, Peace, and Security unfailingly supported the research on the prosecution of VAW crimes. Of the many people in Afghanistan who in various ways generously offered their time, help, and knowledge, I would particularly like to thank Obaid Ali, Phyl- lis Cox, Sandy Feinzig, Alexandra Gilbert, Fawzia Koofi, Ismaeil Hakimi, Michael Hartmann, Zia Moballegh, Shinkhai Karokheil, Abdul Subhan Misbah, Soraya Sobhreng, and Royce Wiles. A number of people read and offered thoughtful comments on parts of or entire drafts of this work; among them are Liv Tønnessen, Nefissa Naguib, Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghadam, Gilda Seddighi, Frode Løvlie, Hilde Granås Kjøstvedt, Elin Skaar, Jonathan Goodhand, Tania Kaiser, Nadje Al-Ali, and John Heather- shaw. Naqeebullah Miakhel compiled helpful information on the implementation of hadd punishments. Jennifer Eastman skillfully and carefully edited the manuscript, and Niels Hooper and Bradley Depew at the University of California Press were supportive and efficient throughout the process of publication. I am particularly appreciative for their efforts in facilitating my book’s publication as Open Access with the generous support of the Luminos Member Library Program. Finally, my deepest thanks to my family for their unfailing support and love. My Norwegian family has endured a lot during my long and frequent stays in Afghanistan, and I am forever grateful for their help and enthusiasm. Aziz Hakimi has been both a stimulating colleague and my most treasured companion. As I write this, Afghanistan is in its fourth decade of war, with no end in sight. Its people, increasingly fenced in by the rest of world, face deepening hardships and uncertainty. I dedicate this book to them and to their ability to summon so much grace, perseverance, and generosity of spirit under very difficult circumstances. Introduction The Politics of Violence against Women In the early summer of 2012, another case of sexual abuse reached Afghan tele- vision screens and the international press. Lal Bibi, an eighteen-year-old nomad woman from the province of Kunduz, came forward in Afghan media recounting how, on May 17, 2012, she was seized by men linked to a local armed group. She was held captive for five days and sexually assaulted as revenge for her cousin’s elopement with a woman from the family of one of the kidnappers. Lal Bibi’s family declared to journalists that unless justice was done, they would have no option but to kill her. However, Afghanistan’s women’s right activists quickly mobilized in support, and pressure mounted on the government to arrest the perpetrators. But back in Kunduz, the man accused of the rape protested that no such thing had taken place. He argued that there had been an agreement of baad—a practice in which a woman or girl is given in marriage as a form of compensation for a crime or an affront. A mullah had married Lal Bibi to him just before intercourse, and “once the marriage contract is done, any sexual intercourse is not considered rape” (A. J. Rubin 2012). In present-day Afghanistan, this version of events did not necessarily exonerate him from having committed a crime. Women’s rights activists pointed out that forced marriage was also an offense, according to Afghan law and particularly the new Elimination of Violence against Women law (EVAW law), which had become a cornerstone of gender activism in the country. More- over, his attempt to justify his actions with reference to a framework of baad impli- cated others.

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