A/HRC/7/27 page 7 17. The President’s support for the campaign against gender violence is encouraging and hopefully will be matched by actions. Just as critical are the President’s endorsement of the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan (NAPWA) and his active support for its realization. A. Violence against women and discrimination in the criminal justice system 18. High levels of violence against women and girls remain of grave concern. UNAMA, AIHRC and the Minister for Women’s Affairs received more than 2,000 cases in 2007, likely only a fraction of cases due to limited access and awareness. 19. The caseload confirms that harmful customary practices such as honour killings, ba’ad (the exchange of girls to settle disputes), trafficking in women, under-aged and forced marriages and severe domestic violence continue. Of 450 cases received by UNAMA between January and September 2007, a large proportion involves young women or girls who claim forced engagement or marriage coupled with domestic violence. Forced couplings often are financially motivated, with the bride-price alleviating debt or immediate economic hardship of the bride’s family. Between 40 and 57 per cent of all marriages involve girls under the age of 16. 20. In most documented cases, the perpetrators of violence against women are close family members though non-family members known to the victim, or State officials, in many cases policemen, also are perpetrators. Many cases involve more than one perpetrator, or a series of violations, often in connection with attempts of the victims to seek protection or redress. 21. The judicial and law enforcement systems still fail to protect and provide justice to women. This emanates from entrenched cultural attitudes and practices, the absence of female lawyers and judges, and the inability of many women to physically access the judicial system without a male escort. This amplifies rights issues caused by the weak judiciary. The few women lawyers, prosecutors and judges in the legal system frequently suffer from discrimination and marginalization by male colleagues. Social practices relegating women to the home, particularly in remote areas, often restrict them from joining the police and judiciary, rendering it difficult to increase female representation. 22. Women also continue to be criminalized unfairly. Victims, particularly of sexual offences, often find themselves accused and detained illegally on charges of immorality. An alarming number of women are detained for allegedly “running away” (elopement), which is not a crime under the Criminal Code, or for zina (adultery) as to which the penal provisions are ambiguous. Reportedly, in this context, women and girls are occasionally convicted of non-existent offences in order to provide justification for their detention. 23. These failures lead to attempts to resolve violence against women cases by non-judicial means, which may not adequately protect the victim. Generally, where the police’s Family Response Unit, the Department of Women’s Affairs, or a traditional council of elders intervenes, the victim is usually returned to her husband’s or parents’ home with a written undertaking from the perpetrator that he will desist from further abusive action. Putting aside the absence of remedy in respect of abuse suffered, without adequate monitoring, it is unclear if these undertakings as to conduct in the future are honoured.