Forum Post: Save Afghani Teen; Sign Petition
Posted 11 years ago on July 5, 2012, 2:55 p.m. EST by lkindr
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18 year-old Lal Bibi was kidnapped, raped, tortured and chained to a wall for five days by a gang of [vicious] Afghan police officers. But she stood up to do what women in Afghanistan are told not to -- she is fighting back, and together we can help her and all Afghan women win justice.
According to deep cultural mandates, as a raped woman, Lal Bibi has been "dishonoured" and will kill herself -- and she publicly says she must, unless her rapists are brought to justice to restore her honour and dignity. Afghanistan's justice system routinely fails to pursue these cases and so far the chief suspects in Lal Bibi's case have not been prosecuted, likely in the hopes that international attention will die down. Every day that passes without the prosecutions pushes Lal Bibi closer to suicide -- but there is hope.
This weekend, the US, UK, Japan and other major donors are expected to pledge 4 billion dollars to Afghanistan -- money that will pay for the very police forces responsible for Lal Bibi’s rape. But an international outcry can shame donor countries into action, conditioning their aid on real action to fight rape and protect women. We don't have much time left. Sign the petition on the right for change that could save Lal Bibi’s life and our petition will be delivered right into the donor conference in Tokyo.
Sign the petition: To the US Secretary of State, UK Secretary of State for International Development and the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Japan and Italy:
As concerned citizens across the world, we call on you to ensure strong guarantees for the protection of women’s rights in your pledge to provide aid to the Afghan government. We urge you to ensure that any financial aid to Afghanistan is conditioned on an end to the blatant impunity that has resulted in the rape, abduction and torture of Lal Bibi by the Afghan Local Police. Afghan officials must immediately bring her rapists to justice and work to protect women across Afghanistan.
Sign the petition at: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_lal_bibi_c/?bUyBidb&v=15787
They want 500,000 signatures and have 168,000 or more so far.
Almost 209,000 people worldwide have signed the petition so far. That's almost half way to their goal. Everyone please sign, if you want to help save women's lives in Afghanistan.