EDITORIAL: Violence against women will continue

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission headed by Sima Samar, and Women's Affairs Minister Massouda Jalal have given separate speeches setting out the contributory factors to domestic violence. Domestic violence is practiced even in the United States. It is said that one in three women is beaten by her husband. However, beating is not the only kind of violence against women - rape is the most grotesque form. In the Subcontinent, a woman who fails to bring a dowry to her husband's home may be doused in kerosene and set on fire. [In Afghanistan,] a translation of the English adage "no life without a wife" could be helpful if it was printed on posters. School syllabuses throughout the country should include illustrated information based on biology and physiology to show that God created both sexes with special qualities - if a man possesses more physical power, a woman may be more able to endure pain. The public should be made aware of the tough chores foisted on women by men, such as fetching firewood from mountains infested with wild animals such as in the eastern provinces of Paktia and Paktika, or bringing drinking water from rivers or springs, in addition to cooking, sweeping and washing up. Then men might take pity on helpless women and lighten their burdens. It may take at least a generation to warn men off from beating their wives.