Girls trapped within the psychological well being system

[ad_1] Mahjooba Nowrouzi BBC Afghan Service, in Kabul

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f4b9/live/4ad519b0-7789-11f0-a975-cb151ca452f4.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC Young woman wears a white headscarf with her arms crossed over her knees. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> BBC BBC visited a psychological well being centre that's struggling to deal with the variety of sufferers

Excessive on a hill within the west of the Afghan capital, Kabul, behind a metal gate topped with barbed wire, lies a spot few locals converse of, and even fewer go to.

The ladies's wing of a psychological well being centre run by the Afghan Pink Crescent Society (ARCS) is the most important of solely a handful of services within the nation devoted to serving to ladies with psychological diseases.

Locals name it Qala, or the fortress.

The BBC gained unique entry to the crowded centre the place workers discover it tough to deal with the 104 ladies presently inside its partitions.

Amongst them are ladies like Mariam* who says she is a sufferer of home violence.

Regarded as in her mid-20s, she's been right here for 9 years, after enduring what she describes as abuse and neglect by her household, adopted by a interval of homelessness.

"My brothers used to beat me each time I visited a neighbour's home," she alleges. Her household didn't need to let her out of the home alone, she says, due to a cultural perception that younger women mustn't go away the home with out supervision.

Finally, her brothers appeared to have kicked her out, forcing her to stay on the streets at a younger age. It was right here a lady discovered her and, apparently involved about her psychological well being, introduced her to the centre.

Regardless of her story, Mariam's smile is consistently radiant. She is commonly seen singing, and is without doubt one of the few sufferers allowed to work across the constructing, volunteering to assist with cleansing.

She is prepared - and prepared - to be discharged.

However she can not go away as a result of she has nowhere to go.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0f81/live/805a6cc0-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Metal bars as part of a gate to a facility. A woman in the distance sits on a metal bunk bed. Another woman stands next to her, with her face and head covered." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Qala is Kabul's largest psychological well being facility and homes 104 feminine sufferers

"I do not anticipate to return to my father and mom. I need to marry somebody right here in Kabul, as a result of even when I am going again residence, they will simply abandon me once more," Mariam says.

As she will't return to her abusive household, she is successfully trapped within the facility.

In Afghanistan, strict Taliban rules and deeply-rooted patriarchal traditions make it practically unimaginable for ladies to stay independently. Girls are legally and socially required to have a male guardian for journey, work, and even accessing many providers, and most financial alternatives are closed to them.

Generations of gender inequality, restricted training, and restricted employment have left many ladies financially depending on male breadwinners, reinforcing a cycle the place survival usually hinges on male kinfolk.

Sat on a mattress in one of many dormitories is Habiba.

The 28-year-old says she was dropped at the centre by her husband, who was forcing her out of the household residence after he married once more.

Like Mariam, she now has nowhere else to go. She too is able to be launched, however her husband won't take her again, and her widowed mom can not assist her both.

Her three sons now stay with an uncle. They visited her initially, however Habiba hasn't seen them this yr; with out entry to a cellphone, she can not even make contact.

"I need to be reunited with my youngsters," she says.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8f84/live/b8a2d770-7789-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Closeup of profile of the face of a woman wearing a pink headscarf, her hand covering her mouth. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Mariam has been on this facility for 9 years

Their tales are removed from distinctive on the centre, the place our go to, together with conversations with workers and sufferers, is overseen by officers from the Taliban authorities.

Some sufferers have been right here for 35 to 40 years, says Saleema Halib, a psychotherapist on the centre.

"Some have been fully deserted by their households. No-one comes to go to, and so they find yourself dwelling and dying right here."

Years of battle has left its mark on the psychological well being of many Afghans, particularly ladies, and the problem is commonly poorly understood and topic to stigma.

In response to a current UN report on the worsening state of affairs of girls's rights in Afghanistan, Hamdullah Fitrat, Taliban authorities's deputy spokesperson, instructed the BBC that their authorities didn't enable any violence towards ladies and so they have "ensured ladies's rights in Afghanistan".

However UN information launched in 2024 factors to a worsening psychological well being disaster linked to the Taliban's crackdown on ladies's rights: 68% of girls surveyed reported having "unhealthy" or "very unhealthy" psychological well being.

Providers are struggling to manage, each inside and out of doors the centre, which has seen a several-fold enhance in sufferers during the last 4 years, and now has a ready listing.

"Psychological sickness, particularly melancholy, is quite common in our society," says Dr Abdul Wali Utmanzai, a senior psychiatrist at a close-by hospital in Kabul, additionally run by ARCS.

He says he sees as much as 50 outpatients a day from completely different provinces, most of them ladies: "They face extreme financial strain. Many haven't any male family member to supply for them - 80% of my sufferers are younger ladies with household points."

The Taliban authorities says it's dedicated to offering well being providers. However with restrictions on ladies's motion with no male chaperon, many can not search assist.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a98e/live/36f84d80-778a-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Close-up of barbed wire on top of a metal gate." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> The psychological well being facility is in a secluded space, secured by a steel gate and barbed wire

All of this makes it tougher for ladies like Mariam and Habiba to go away - and the longer they keep, the less locations there are for individuals who say they desperately need assistance.

One household had been making an attempt for a yr to confess their 16-year-old daughter, Zainab, to the centre, however they have been instructed there have been no beds out there. She is now one of many youngest sufferers there.

Till then she had been confined to her residence - her ankles shackled to forestall her operating away.

It is not clear what psychological well being issues Zainab has been experiencing, however she struggles to verbalise her ideas.

A visibly distressed Feda Mohammad says the police just lately discovered his daughter miles from residence.

Zainab had gone lacking for days, which is very harmful in Afghanistan, the place ladies aren't allowed to journey lengthy distances from residence with no male guardian.

"She climbs the partitions and runs away if we unchain her," Feda Mohammad explains.

Zainab breaks down into tears now and again, particularly when she sees her mom crying.

Feda Mohammad says they observed her situation when she was eight. But it surely worsened after a number of bombings hit her faculty in April 2022.

"She was thrown towards a wall by the blast," he says. "We helped perform the wounded and acquire the our bodies. It was horrific."

Precisely what would have occurred if house hadn't been discovered is unclear. Zainab's father stated her repeated makes an attempt to run away have been dishonouring him, and he argued it was higher for her and her household that she is confined to the centre.