An article published 9 September 2008, by the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), reports on the rise of self-immolation cases in Afghanistan. The article cites domestic violence as one of the main causal factors in self-immolation cases. The women who resort to self-immolation have often faced years of extreme abuse at the hands of one or more of their male relatives. According to the article, self-immolation cases are most common in rural areas where poverty and unemployment are high. Information about the severity of domestic violence is disseminated in cities, but security issues prevent women’s groups from publishing the information in the rural areas that have the highest rates of self-immolation.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) confirmed the rise in cases. A 2007 study conducted by AIHRC states, “"Domestic violence against women not only has serious physical and mental effects on women but also causes other grave problems such as self-immolation, suicide, escape from home, forced prostitution and addiction to narcotics”. Unfortunately, the men who abuse these women and lead them to self-immolation are rarely prosecuted.
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Compiled from: Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN), “Afghanistan: Self-Immolation on the Rise among Women”, IRIN, 9 September, 2008.