Violence is still one of the biggest challenges for Afghan citizens. Unfortunately violence is for many people a reality of life. Many people blame illiteracy, traditional customs and the clash of values (i.e. between personal and social values) as reasons behind violence. The root causes of it differ from one context to the next. Conflict, poverty, exchange marriages, forced marriages, child marriages, issues of honor and shame, a rapid change in values and honor-killings all contribute to violence
For instance, families may opt for exchange marriages to reduce cost but little attention is paid to the wishes of those young people who are made to live together against their will which paves the way for disagreement.
Rahim, who lives in Jalalabad city, experienced violence when he was still a child. He believes the clash of values was the main reason behind the kind of violence he experienced. “There is a gap between father and son”, he says. “When the father grows up in a traditional society and the son in a society where people have access to social media and modern technology, often the father does not like what his son is doing, and the son does not like what his father wants him to do. When the father force his son to do something different and the son refuses, then this situation leads to violence in the family.”
In order to shed more light on violence in Afghan society, in the coming weeks we will publish some stories of people who have experienced it.