UNITED NATIONS Press Release

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UN expert on violence against women concludes visit to Afghanistan

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Kabul, 18 July 2005 – While several positive steps have been taken in Afghanistan to strengthen human rights, violence against women remains dramatic in the country and its intensity and pervasiveness is evident in the public and private spheres, an UN expert said today. Concluding a ten-day visit to Afghanistan, Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, said the primary source of violence appeared to be forced marriages. For the great majority of girls and women, there is no alternative to enduring the violence they encounter, she added. More…