Self-defence, organisation and struggle to 25 November (21)

2024-11-21 09:14:35


	 

	 

	Fatima Etimadi talked about the struggle of Afghan women

	 

	Melek Avcı

	 

	ANKARA - "Today, women are subjected to various forms of violence and oppression not only in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kurdistan and Africa, but all over the world," said Afghan activist Fatima Etimadi.

	 

	Although it is said that ‘to each his own’, most of the time the burden of women's struggle is heavy for all women. Women, who are surrounded by the masculine mentality codes of capitalist nation states, are the first target of forms of violence due to capitalism, whether in the most ‘democratic’ country in Europe or in the most ‘reactionary’ place. From psychological violence to mobbing or physical violence, every system turns against women with its own codes, with the same language of violence.

	 

	As 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Fatima Etimadi, one of the leaders of women's protests in Afghanistan, talked about being a woman in Afghanistan.

	 

	Recm, rape, massacre and so on...

	 

	Fatima Etimadi explained that as women, they are struggling with thousands of forms of violence in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and said: ‘As women in Afghanistan, we face all kinds of violence. These can be counted as sexual assault, rape, murder, stoning, domestic violence, social, political, cultural violence and many more. There are two faces of human rights here. On the other hand, as human rights defenders and those who protest against the current situation in Afghanistan, we face violence such as prison sentences, threats, murder, exile, bans on leaving the country, rape and murder. The weight of being a woman is different here."

	 

	Increase in severity after 15 August 2021

	 

	Fatima Etimadi stated that since the Taliban came to power, preventive and deterrent institutions in the face of violence have lost their function or even ceased to exist, "From 2001 to 15 August 2021, women in Afghanistan have grown significantly in various sectors. In this decade, when a woman was subjected to violence, we had a reference such as the Human Rights Commission of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, from which there could be intervention. The victim of violence was supported and the perpetrator of violence was prosecuted, but after 15 August 2021, there is no longer a supportive reference mechanism for this. Women have been removed from every part and every point of society. Honour killings, forced marriages, the sale of girls, and severe violence have reached the highest levels."

	 

	

	 

	‘A great price was paid this year’

	 

	Fatima Etimadi said that activists who stood up against violence were prevented and assassinated, and that not even a single awareness seminar was allowed. Fatima Etimadi said, "Currently, a terrorist group is ruling in Afghanistan without any plan to support the prohibition of violence against women. It does not even allow a single awareness seminar on this issue, let alone support it. Only human rights defenders and activists have organised and stood up to defend that no human being should be subjected to violence. A huge human and material price was paid this year. Many of the activists who stood up against this violence were assassinated, murdered and imprisoned."

	 

	They run the closed factory at home

	 

	Fatima Etimadi, who said that she will carry out her struggle by supporting sportswomen this 25 November, said: "I have a clothing factory, the Taliban closed it down, but we continue to work with women in safe houses. I worked as an athlete and apprenticed in the Shotokan karate section of the Afghanistan Federation for eight years. Today, women here are deprived of sports. On 25 November this year, I will support three people from these three departments."

	 

	‘Express solidarity strongly’

	 

	Fatima Etimadi, noting that violence is experienced in similar forms in many parts of the world, referred to the Kurdish Women's Movement and said:"‘I don't have very much information about them, but I have heard about them. They are strong women who have made efforts for the freedom of Kurdistan. Today, women are subjected to various forms of violence and oppression not only in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kurdistan and Africa, but all over the world. In this situation, it would be very good for women all over the world to stand up and unite against gender inequality. Express your solidarity strongly."

	 

	‘We must declare unity and solidarity’

	 

	"When asked if this century is the century of women, Fatima Etimadi said that it has not happened yet: ‘Because there have been three small revolutions against oppression, three revolutions in Afghanistan, Iran and Kurdistan. When we say that this century is women's, women all over the world, regardless of geography, need to act in a unity where identity is autonomous, but gender is honoured. With this in mind, we can declare our unity and solidarity together, away from politics, and act on behalf of women to support them."