Australia is helping to prevent and respond to violence against women in Afghanistan. This support builds on national efforts, including working through Afghan civil society and women's organisations, to increase women's access to support services, improve women's access to justice and strengthen violence prevention activities.
The Elimination of Violence Against Women Program in Afghanistan commenced in 2013 with four partner organisations: The Asia Foundation, UN Women, the Afghan Women's Network and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) across 18 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. These organisations are implementing the following activities:
- providing women's shelters and support services, including legal aid and counselling, for women and girls that have been affected by violence;
- improving access to justice for women, through training of police, prosecutors and judges to understand and implement laws dealing with perpetrators;
- helping to change community attitudes toward violence and advocate for the protection of women's rights;
- supporting the Afghan Women's Network and member organisations to strengthen advocacy and leadership efforts on issues impacting Afghan women including to ensure gains in women's rights made over the last 10 years in are maintained.
In Afghanistan, UNFPA works to eliminate violence against women through a multisectoral approach that includes supporting health, legal and justice sectors and coordinating activities between government and civil society.
This program is also:
- changing attitudes of religious leaders, village councils and young people, on violence and harmful traditional practices
- training 425 judges and prosecutors and 375 government and NGO staff on standard operating procedures, data collection and ethical guidelines to process cases
- integrating the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law into the curriculum of the National Police Academy and Staff College.
This program is a component of Australia's broader efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women in Afghanistan. Australia is committed to supporting the social and economic development of Afghanistan, recognising that gender inequality and discrimination against women are significant barriers to sustainable peace and reconstruction.
