Hannah Neumann, a German member of the European parliament, in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, said that violence against women and girls has increased in Afghanistan.
According to Ms. Neumann, although the war in Afghanistan is over, violence against women has increased compared to the past.
Hannah Neumann said that the sale and marriage of underage girls is on the rise in Afghanistan.
“For the women especially there is a lot of insecurity about their future, there is a lot of insecurity if tomorrow they can go for their job again, there is a lot of insecurity–how to they feed their children–there is a lot of insecurity about how would be the future, especially of their girls, and we see an increase in forced marriage where even children at the age of 8 or 9 are being married, we see an increase that especially girls are being sold,” said Hannah Neumann, Member of the European Parliament.
The member of the European Parliament also said she considers the situation of the media and journalists in Afghanistan to be worrying.
“When they are afraid of journalists reporting the facts, they are afraid of women claiming their rights, but if you want to govern a country, and governing a country is something different from fighting, if you want to govern a country, you need to listen to your citizens and their wishes and their desires and you need to provide answers and this country has 40 million citizens and not just two hundred thousand,” said Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament.
The representatives “stressed a continuous need to ensure good governance and service delivery, promote and respect rule of law, universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, in particular of women and girls as well as children and persons belonging to ethnic groups and minorities, and the establishment of an inclusive and representative government through a credible and legitimate political process in which meaningful participation by all ethnic and political stakeholders, including women and minorities is respected.”
The participants also reaffirmed EU and Central Asia cooperation in support of the Afghan people as well as security and “resilience in a wider region.”
According to the statement, the participants also reiterated the “ambitions” for a developed, stable, secure, independent and prosperous Afghanistan in which “all Afghan women and men can enjoy the full rights and freedoms afforded to them by the international commitments to which Afghanistan is a signatory, and that threats to others do not emanate from Afghanistan in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2593, including freedom of movement, and provision of safe passage.”
They also expressed concerns over the Afghan humanitarian crisis and called for a concerted response by the international community.
The envoys and representatives underscored the importance of averting Afghan soil from being“used as a base for hosting, financing or exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries.”
The Islamic Emirate has yet to comment, but it has previously said that there is no threat to any country from Afghan soil. The Islamic Emirate has also denied the reports of several organizations and remarks of Western officials about the presence of foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
Following the takeover of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, various international organizations have expressed concerns over the human rights situation, especially the situation of women and children in Afghanistan.—Tolonews
