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How a rape survivor could change Afghanistan

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How a rape survivor could change Afghanistan
Update: 10 July 2012

This petition is now closed. Thank you for visiting this page.

Last weekend, we delivered our petition for reform of the Afghan Local Police directly to officials at the donor conference in Tokyo. While we did not see clear donor conditionality on ALP reform, Secretary Clinton and other foreign ministers spoke out in support of women’s rights, fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law. As the deadline has passed, this campaign is now closed. But our community will continue to look for ways to support peace and justice in Afghanistan and the region. 

The teenager raped by ALP officers, has continued to see progress in her case -- the suspects were detained several days ago, and the case has been transferred to Kabul where officials at the highest levels of government have called for justice. This progress occurred before our ALP reform campaign was launched however, and was due to efforts by other media and organizations. 

 
An Afghan teenager was kidnapped, raped, tortured and chained to a wall for five days by a gang of powerful Afghan police officers. But she stood up to do what women in Afghanistan are told not to -- she is fighting back, and together we can help her and all Afghan women win justice.

According to deep cultural mandates, as a raped woman, this girl has been "dishonoured" and will kill herself -- and she publicly says she must, unless her rapists are brought to justice to restore her honour and dignity. Afghanistan's justice system routinely fails to pursue these cases and so far the chief suspects have not been prosecuted, likely in the hopes that international attention will die down. Every day that passes without an arrest pushes this girl closer to suicide -- but there is hope.

This weekend, the US, UK, Japan and other major donors are expected to pledge 4 billion dollars to Afghanistan -- money that will pay for the very police forces responsible for the rape. But an international outcry can shame donor countries into action, conditioning their aid on real action to fight rape and protect women. We don't have much time left. Sign the petition on the right for change that could save a girl's life and our petition will be delivered right into the donor conference in Tokyo.

Posted: 3 July 2012