''As Nato pullout looms, Afghan women face uncertain future''

From Dawn.com

''According to Shama, a female student at the University of Kabul, Afghan women face hardships throughout their lives. “A woman is trapped. As a child, when she is just 13or 14 she is given off in a forced marriage, mostly in exchange for money. Her husband beats her but she can’t run away or seek a divorce as it will then turn her into an outcast in the society and her children will be taken away from her. So instead, she burns herself or commits suicide,” she says. The average life expectancy for a woman in Afghanistan lingers at a meager 44 years – one of the lowest in the world.''

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