Take Action Today For Women's Shelters In Afghanistan

Please stand up in defense of the right of Afghan women and girls to be protected from violence.

As you may know by now, the Government of Afghanistan has recently introduced a bill that seeks to seize control of women’s shelters in Afghanistan from the independent organizations that founded them, and place them under the control of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA). To date, the Afghan Government has not had any involvement in operating or supporting women’s shelters, and this move comes on the heels of an unwarranted attack by a conservative Afghan media personality, Nasto Naderi, who accused shelters of serving as brothels. More recently, Naderi disclosed the address of one of the shelters on Afghan television, as well as details of specific cases of women living under the protection of the shelters. The Minister of Women’s Affairs has further stoked the hostility towards shelters by making claims to the Afghan media that shelters are corrupt. She also provided false details of the budgets of independent shelters as well as the number of women who currently reside in Afghanistan’s shelters.

The significant progress made in strengthening women’s rights in Afghanistan is severely jeopardized by this move by the Afghan government, and we cannot let it be undermined. We are asking the Afghan Government to immediately cease its efforts to seize control of independently established shelters for women fleeing violence and human rights abuses.

Sign the petition created by our colleagues at Women for Afghan Women, one of the organizations operating much-needed shelters in Afghanistan:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/savetheshelters/