Afghan Women Continuously Jailed for Being Raped, Prostituted and Other 'Moral Crimes'

A new report released by Human Rights Watch this week argues that despite the ousting of the Taliban, women and girls in Afghanistan continue to live in precarious conditions with hundreds of females spending years behind bars for committing "moral crimes," which sometimes include being victims of rape.

The report, "I Had to Run Away: Women and Girls Imprisoned for 'Moral Crimes' In Afghanistan," was published by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday and details the circumstances of women and girls in Afghanistan's female detention centers.

The report outlines the "crimes" that send women and girls into detention centers, often for years at a time, which include fleeing a situation of domestic violence or being the victim of rape.

"Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution," the report reads.

Although the human rights situation has seen some improvement for women and girls in the country since the fall of the Taliban, such as increased access to education and public life, the continued wrongful imprisonment of women for fleeing violence or being raped points to a failure to adequately protect and promote women's rights in the country, according to HRW.

"It's shocking that 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban women and girls are still imprisoned for running away from domestic violence or forced marriage," HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said. "No one should be locked up for fleeing a dangerous situation even if it's at home." Keep reading