Description

UNICEF's Sarah Crowe reports on UNICEF's efforts to help protect Afghan girls from violence and early marriage.

Transcript

Safe Havens for Girls in Afghanistan Sarah Crowe: Locked in Limbo, young girls held in juvenile rehabilitation centre in Mazar-e-Sharif.northern Afghanistan await their term for justice doing time for moral crimes like adultery, for bringing shame on their families. Some will spend months and years here learning useful skills, bonding together like normal giggling girls. But once freed in this conservative society, shame can be a permanent punishment. In this secret shelter, these young women have escaped abuse, forced marriage, all those who would sell them and traffic them like products. Four years ago, there were only eight cases here. Now, there are 40. A good sign some say of growing awareness of girl’s rights. The girl who had interrupted, this is their safe haven where they are cared for and can care for their own. Neelab is18, her horror story is typical, a violent husband her poverty stricken parents made her marry at 14 to save her from shame. He beat us so badly, she miscarried her second child. Now, she wants her voice to be heard. Neelab: My request is that if you can take the message through TV to all parents that they should not exchange their daughters for money and they should not worry about the honor of the family as soon as the child is in her teenage. They should not marry her off without thinking whether she will be happy or not. So, I think that boys and girls should complete their education and get to know things in life before they get married. Sarah Crowe: Tucked away from the conflict, there are rays of hope all over Afghanistan. This school is brimming over with girls. They're crowded in classrooms and out in the open. Forty percent more girls are now in school and that creating greater awareness about children’s rights and arming girls with choices for life. Security threats are large but despite ongoing attacks on schools, on women teachers and on girls, real change is happening. In this large class, only a couple of girls had mothers with basic schooling. Female: How many of their mothers were at school when they were 12 years old finished their schooling? Sarah Crowe: This school had faced such a demand they have to build new classrooms around the girls. UNICEF helps with legal aid for girls struggling to get their rights, suffering from abuse or forced marriage. A big investment has been in educating girls, distributing learning materials and training women teachers. Farid Dastgeer: Peace is the key to any sexes in an area but especially in child protection. So if there is war, there is limitation of access to the rural areas, so there is a little chance that we get to know the real problem of children from those areas affected by war. So, we need peace to -- so that the community comes forward with their problems and then UNICEF along with their partners address these problems. Sarah Crowe: Achieving peace won’t be a walk in the park for Afghanistan. But here, families enjoy the fun of being ordinary. Childhood is a playground and there is real momentum towards progress for children. This is Sarah Crowe in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, Unite for Children.