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Afghanistan's women judges fear reprisal, stay in hiding   

WION Web Team
KabulUpdated: Sep 20, 2021, 04:08 PM IST
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HRW's report sheds light on developments in over 100 countries Photograph:(AFP)

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Around 250 female judges are in hiding as they fear reprisal. Taliban doesn’t seem to condone women in senior positions. They are at risk from the fundamentalists and the men they once jailed as after rising to power, the Taliban released thousands of criminals

As numerous women workers have been ordered to stay home in Afghanistan, a section of women, who had been working earlier as judges in the country’s courts, fear reprisal.   

Around 250 female judges are in hiding as the Afghanistan's new rulers, Taliban, doesn’t condone women in senior positions.   

They are at risk from not only the fundamentalists, but the men they once jailed. After coming to power, the Taliban opened the gates of prisons, releasing thousands of convicted criminals.  

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"Now, we do not feel safe. The same criminals are going after my own life, the lives of my family. God forbid if they seek revenge," said Nabila, a woman judge.  

After the Taliban takeover, a few dozen women judges fled Afghanistan. The rest are in hiding, as per Judge Vanessa Ruiz from the US-based International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ).  

It seems all the judges, who worked under the former Afghan government, have been now replaced by Taliban appointees.  

These judges have presided over the worst cases of violence against women, including rape, murder and domestic abuse.  

Ruiz said, "They would be angry at any judge who sentenced them, but that a woman had official authority, and sat in judgment of a man, is rage of a completely different order."