“There is a Beast in Town . . .” by Nuzhat Shahzadi

The omnipresent smell of antiseptics hit me as I stepped inside the Burn Center Hospital in Herat (2008). In spite of the heavy antiseptics, the twinge of burnt flesh floated around the wards . . .

The nurse in-charge came forward with a smile. She spoke English.

I took the chair beside Zohra’s bed. She looked frail, barely 18; her body covered under the thin bed sheet. She was admitted with 3rd degree burns but was recovering. Surprisingly, her face wasn’t scarred. Zohra had agreed to talk to me.

“Mushkilat niat (no problem) . . .” she whispered, feebly. “My husband loves me. I shamed him, our families,” she added in English. She kept staring at the vacant space, avoiding looking at me.

“Zohra, try to get well. We can help you,” I assured her, gently. We could house her at the Voice of Women (VoW)’s shelter. She kept shaking her head. Tears escaped from her closed eyelids.

Zohra had tried to commit suicide by self-immolation. It was a big problem in Afghanistan, especially in the Western Region. Girls and (younger) women torched themselves with gasoline to escape domestic abuse––the horror of being used as a “traditional pawns” –– being sold as wives to older men or given as “gifts” to rival families to stop tribal-feuds.

The nurse had also arranged my meeting with Zohra’s husband. In a few minutes he joined.

“She made a mistake. There’s no problem in our house. My son is two––needs his mother,” he said without batting an eyelid. (I still remember his words).

“Would you consider counselling for Zohra? We can arrange . . .” I tried to negotiate.

“No. She needs to come home.” All this time Zohra stayed motionless; eyes closed.

Later, the nurse gave me a tour of the Center. There was a secluded area separated by transparent plastic covers. “That’s where we keep the badly burnt victims to prevent septic. The stench and their cries are unbearable.” Her words were factual, chilling.

Humani Terra International (HTI), a French NGO, has been working in the Herat province since 2002. It provided medical equipment, materials, and specialised voluntary surgical teams to assist the health authorities in improving services at the Herat regional hospital. The teams treated patients, trained the local medical personnel, guided hospital directors in hospital management. HTI built the Burn Center (October 2007) and offered treatment, including reconstructive and psychosocial care to victims of self-immolation in Herat.

HTI’s mission was to enable the victims of self-immolation, girls and women, to have access to adequate health care. Psycho-social counselling was extended to the victims’ families. Initially, the Burn Center was piloted at the Herat regional hospital.

On an average 300-350 cases were reported yearly. This was reduced to about 70 per year after HTI began its work which (in addition to treatment) included a campaign to raise awareness about self-immolation, its causes and how to support rehabilitation of the victims. HTI implemented it with VoW (Phase I).

I wanted UNICEF-Herat to be a part of this process and began dialogues with HTI and VoW.

We agreed to expand the project in the remaining 3 provinces: Badghis, Farah and
Ghor. I also led the discussions with Departments of Education, Women’s Affairs, Justice,
Interior, Labor and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Public Health. And we struck a cross
sectoral partnership (!)

I spoke with more victims. Disfigurement was an added burden . . .

I secured the funding and jointly with HTI and VoW wrote the project-proposal for

“Prevention campaign on girls and women committing self- immolation, and rehabilitation
of the victims in Western Afghanistan (Phase II).” HTI co-funded it with UNICEF-Herat.

Initially, the project was for 1 year with plans for expansion (Phase II: June 2010 - June 2011;
Phase III: June 2011- June 2013; Phase IV: June 2013- June 2015).

We roped in War Child UK (NGO), Afghan Civil Partnership Assembly, Child Protection Action Network, Afghan Red Crescent Youth Volunteers, and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission as potential collaborators. It took us over a year to finalize the proposal and get the partners on board.

Nuzhat with Mariya Bashir

Mariya Bashir, a staunch women’s rights activist and the first female Attorney General of Herat joined us.

I spent endless hours going through reports, research and stories of victims:
Cultural beliefs and practices play a crucial role in Afghan society. Gender based violence gets endorsed under the auspices of such beliefs. Girls and women bear the brunt of traditions and norms. Conforming to the concept of “honor” is key to a girl’s/woman’s chastity and dignity. The construction of honor is very stringent–– any deviation poses threats to the survival and protection of a girl/woman and turns her into an “outcast.” If she loses her honor she is stripped of all respectability and protection of her family. 

When a girl runs away from home to escape domestic violence, she is labeled as having committed the honor crime. In most cases, such girls end up in prisons (during the pre-U.S. withdrawal era, they were also housed in juvenile rehabilitation centers, in subhuman conditions. Unless re-integrated with their families, these girls had no future. They were ostracized and socially excluded, living in confinement, condemned forever).

I came across an interesting report in the Kabul Press, 2008:
In Afghanistan, customary laws consider a woman as the property of a man––his honor and pride. If this is dishonored, he is allowed to wipe out the scar, even by killing his fiancée, wife, sister or mother. From childhood, most girls aren’t allowed to participate in any social life outside of the home. Her role is to serve men. This can’t be challenged. Her resistance would mean exclusion from family and society. If she commits suicide, it’s to be kept a secret because “honor” is at stake. If she runs away and gets caught, she must be killed to protect the honor of “the man” (Adapted).

An Afghan girl/woman is left with very little choice. Either she is killed or escapes by committing “khud Kushi”––self-immolation by torching herself, doused with petrol.

. . . Nothing has changed. The beast is still in town.

Discussions with partners

Note: Mariya Bashir was given Italian citizenship the moment she landed in Rome.
Suraya Pakzad (VoW) escaped to Germany. Both fled Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban
(2022).

You can contact Nuzhat at nuzhatshahzadi@gmail.com

Read more articles by Nuzhhat