A/HRC/16/67 similar statement criticizing the OHCHR/UNAMA civilian casualty numbers for the first 11 months of 2010 that indicated AGEs were linked to 76 per cent of all civilian casualties, a figure referred to in the December 2010 report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for internal peace and security (A/65/612-S/2010/630, para. 56). III. Violence against women 21. Violence against women and girls, including sexual violence and harmful traditional practices such as ba’ad (use of girls in marriage to settle disputes), so-called “honour” killings, early and forced marriages and rape continue to be persistent and widespread in Afghanistan. The misplaced stigma of sexual violence falling on the victim rather than the perpetrator and the lack of access to effective justice or remedies for victims have ensured that sexual violence and harmful traditional practices remain largely unaddressed either by the law enforcement institutions of Afghanistan or by Afghan society. The 2009 OHCHR/UNAMA report Silence is Violence: End the Abuse of Women in Afghanistan, and the December 2010 report Harmful Traditional Practices and Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan confirmed these findings and provided recommendations for action. The latter report noted that harmful traditional practices serve to harm, degrade and marginalize women and girls and are often reinforced by certain interpretations of religious precepts. These practices are inconsistent with national laws, in particular the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women which criminalizes many harmful traditional practices, as well as sharia law and international law. 22. Based on country-wide research and case analysis, the report on harmful traditional practices documents particular customary practices that violate the rights of women and girls throughout Afghanistan and makes recommendations that would strengthen implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women as the Government’s main tool to end harmful practices. The report found that although there had been some improvement in the State’s response to harmful practices and crimes of violence against women, the police and the judiciary often fail to impartially enforce the law and are unwilling or unable to implement laws that protect women’s rights. 23. Law enforcement officials frequently take a selective approach to administering justice. They pursue cases where women are perceived to have transgressed social norms and fail to act when women report violence or in cases of child marriage, claiming these are “private matters”. This situation is demonstrated by the large number of women detained in prisons for “moral crimes”. When social and cultural circumstances do not allow women and girls to oppose harmful traditional practices, or to escape violence, they sometimes run away from home. “Running away” is not a crime under Afghan law. Yet law enforcement authorities often arrest, jail and prosecute girls for running away. The charge is usually “intention” to commit zina (sexual intercourse outside of marriage). 24. On a positive note, OHCHR/UNAMA documented some improvements in the Government’s response to harmful traditional practices. The Ministry of Justice, with support from the UNAMA Human Rights Unit and other partners, is drafting a law that would regulate traditional dispute resolution mechanisms which have been found to frequently violate women’s rights. State authorities sometimes supported girls who objected to their forced marriage. Furthermore, some religious leaders have spoken out in favour of women’s rights. At a conference on International Women’s Day 2010 in Jalalabad, ulema members unanimously vowed to raise awareness against harmful practices in their teaching at mosques. OHCHR/UNAMA also found examples of religious figures condemning exchange marriages and high bride price. 8