# Afghan girl, 14, in critical condition after razor-blade abortion



## leroi (14 Jan 2009)

Afghan Girl, 14, in Critical Condition After Razor-Blade Abortion

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090114.wafghan14/BNStory/Afghanistan/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

JANE ARMSTRONG 
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
January 14, 2009 at 5:23 AM EST

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — In a country where many crimes against women are still swept under the rug, the case of a 14-year-old girl whose baby was allegedly aborted by her mother and brother using a razor blade has outraged doctors and human-rights workers.

The girl is in critical condition in a hospital at a U.S. military base after, officials said, her brother and mother lured her into a backyard shed, used a razor to cut her abdomen and removed the fetus.

The girl, who lived in a village in the central Afghanistan province of Bamiyan, was five months pregnant and said she was raped last year by a construction worker.

The pair stitched the wound with a needle and thread, according to Afghan police and doctors. They then buried the fetus. After four days, the girl developed a dangerous infection and her father took her to a nearby hospital, claiming she'd been bitten by a dog in the abdomen.

Doctors discounted the story as soon as they examined her wounds.

The case has made headlines in this deeply conservative country, where rape carries a huge stigma for victims and their families. Girls who are raped stand little chance of marrying and are often accused of consenting to sex. As a result, their families will go to great lengths to cover up the crime.

A doctor at the village hospital where she was first treated arranged for a quick transfer to the Bamiyan provincial hospital because he said he feared the girl's family might harm her.

"I was worried they [the parents] would kill her" to keep it quiet, said Ihsanullah Shahir, the head of the province's health department.

Abortion is illegal in Afghanistan except if the mother's health is in danger. Even in those cases, a panel of three doctors has to approve the operation, said Dr. Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the Health Ministry.

The girl was flown last Friday to a U.S. air base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Captain Elizabeth Mathias, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan told The Associated Press. Capt. Mathias said the girl was about five months pregnant when she underwent the "traumatic c-section" this month.

She was taken to the U.S. base because the smaller hospital did not have the equipment needed to repair the damage done to her organs.

The girl's brother has been arrested and has confessed to cutting his sister's abdomen with a razor blade. He said he acted alone, but the girl told a local doctor that her mother was part of the assault.

Police say the girl's mother faces prosecution but she has not been arrested because she lives in a remote area.

The girl's brother, Ali, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from prison that he regretted his actions. "I had thought it was simple," he said. Police have arrested the man accused of raping the girl.


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## Mike Baker (14 Jan 2009)

WTF?!?!


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## Marshall (14 Jan 2009)

Ugh. Hopefully the mother gets arrested as well. And hopefully the girl heals and is not damaged by those idiot's actions.


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## PMedMoe (14 Jan 2009)

Marshall said:
			
		

> Ugh. Hopefully the mother gets arrested as well. And hopefully the girl heals and is not damaged by those idiot's actions.



Don't be so quick to judge the mother (and brother).  They were probably only doing what they thought was best to avoid the stigma of the girl being raped or having a child out of wedlock.  They were all probably desperate to do anything.  In a country where women have so few rights and rape victims are penalized for something that is not their fault, some people will do anything.

Remember, it was not so long ago that women in North America were getting abortions with dirty surgical tools in back alleys because it was illegal here, too.


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## Marshall (14 Jan 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> Don't be so quick to judge the mother (and brother).  They were probably only doing what they thought was best to avoid the stigma of the girl being raped or having a child out of wedlock.  They were all probably desperate to do anything.  In a country where women have so few rights and rape victims are penalized for something that is not their fault, some people will do anything.
> 
> Remember, it was not so long ago that women in North America were getting abortions with dirty surgical tools in back alleys because it was illegal here, too.



Yes I realize the cultures and tradition is different. I did snap a little harshly. But there must have been a better route to take then that, with everyone in Afghanistan right now? (It says the mother is in a remote area, but I am not sure if the actual procedure was done there as well?) But then again, I am NOT an Afghan so I can not say what they could of done. It still sounds pretty gruesome though.


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## PMedMoe (14 Jan 2009)

There's no doubt it was gruesome.  The girl is lucky to be alive following a procedure like that.
Even with "everyone" in Afghanistan, you can't just go up to one of the camps and ask to have an abortion done.  These people, unfortunately, were ashamed of a situation that we think nothing (or little) of.


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## Marshall (14 Jan 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> There's no doubt it was gruesome.  The girl is lucky to be alive following a procedure like that.
> Even with "everyone" in Afghanistan, you can't just go up to one of the camps and ask to have an abortion done.  These people, unfortunately, were ashamed of a situation that we think nothing (or little) of.



Indeed. And I suppose it would of been many times harder to seek help from others (if they wanted it) if they were in a remote village. Thanks for information


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## Bruce Monkhouse (14 Jan 2009)

and this just points out the importance of  this.


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## vonGarvin (14 Jan 2009)

PMedMoe said:
			
		

> There's no doubt it was gruesome.  The girl is lucky to be alive following a procedure like that.


Yes she is.  Too bad about the baby.  Too bad about the whole rotten situation.


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