News of Note: Afghan woman slain for giving birth to daughter
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — An Afghan man killed his wife for giving birth to a third daughter rather than the son he’d hoped for, police said Monday.
The 28-year-old victim, who was known by the one name of Storai, was strangled by her husband — a local militia member — and his mother on Saturday, authorities said.
Storai had given birth to the couple’s third daughter three months ago in Mohasili village in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province.
Police said they arrested the victim’s mother-in-law in connection with her death, but Storai’s husband was still at large, likely sheltered by heavily-armed militia colleagues.
“The existence of militiamen is a huge problem and therefore we face difficulty in arresting him,” Kunduz police chief Sufi Habib said.
Nadera Geya, head of the Kunduz women’s affairs department, called the killing one of the worst examples of violence against women she had encountered.
Acid attack
Violence against women is common in Afghanistan. In late November in the same province, an Afghan family that refused to give their daughter in marriage to a man they considered irresponsible was attacked at home by assailants who poured acid over both parents and three children.
This kind of male-dominated society can be seen all over the world. Even with the onset of technology like abortions, male children are often preferred in counties like China, India, Pakistan, Korea, and Taiwan, leading to a significant number of missing females from the population. Not to mention burqas and female genital mutilation; we still have long way to go. How do you think society’s portrayal of gender affects sexuality? Will we ever collectively move past this inhumane gender bias? Please share your thoughts below.
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