The Pitfalls of Protection: Gender, Violence, and Power in Afghanistan

231 Pages·2017·1.801 MB·English

by  Torunn Wimpelmann

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THE PITFALLS

OF PROTECTION
gender, violence, and power
in afghanistan
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The Pitfalls of Protection

The Pitfalls of Protection
Gender, Violence, and Power in Afghanistan
Torunn Wimpelmann
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
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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