Courts failing to protect women, many of whom are in prison for running away from home or adultery, says Human Rights Watch

Nearly half of all women in Afghan prisons are being held for "moral crimes" such as running away from home or adultery, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

After more than a decade of international efforts to reform the legal system and women's rights in Afghanistan, the report found that despite a number of improvements, women still face extremely limited protection in the court system.

The report focused primarily on the imprisonment of women who fled their homes to escape abusive situations. In almost all such instances, those responsible for the abuse did not face any legal actions, while the victims faced prison sentences.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world that interprets sharia law to prohibit women from running away from their home without permission.

"In our view this misuse of the made up crime of running away is emblematic of the difficult position that women find themselves in Afghanistan today. There has obviously been progress in education for women and healthcare for women and employment and travel for women. That's all been good, but the progress that has been made is precarious," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

"Particularly as the international community pulls back militarily from Afghanistan we believe that it's important too that the Afghan government and the international community recommit themselves to the rights of all Afghans, including women," he added.

In one case described by the HRW report, a woman named Souriya Y was given away for marriage at the age of 12 to resolve a family dispute. Her husband was abusive, but her father encouraged her to be patient. Nine years into the marriage, her husband accused her of running away and having sex with one of his enemies. Souriya told HRW she saw the man she was accused of running away with for the first time in court and says her husband made up the story to get rid of her and shame his rival. She was convicted and sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

The report follows numerous similar indicators that present a stark situation for women. A UN report published in winter found that despite the creation of a law designed to protect women, nearly two years after its inception it is rarely enforced. Meanwhile, a separate report by Oxfam found that 87% of Afghan women reported experiencing physical, psychological, or sexual abuse or forced marriages.

With a legal system that often punishes women for reporting violent crimes against them such as rape or abuse, a number of women do not speak up for fear of facing judicial reprisal.

In one of the most high-profile instances in recent time, an Afghan woman named Gulnaz was imprisoned after she was raped by a relative. After the case received international attention, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, offered Gulnaz a pardon but she told reporters that she planned to marry the man who raped her to avoid social problems associated with having a child outside of wedlock.

Only 12.5% of Afghan women are literate, and campaigners say that it remains a challenge to educate women about exactly what rights they possess.

"Nobody understands the law. Women do not understand about their rights. They do not understand how to go to the police, how to go to the court," said Fatana Ishaq Gailani, founder and chair of the Afghanistan Women Council.

Afghan women also receive a number of mixed messages coming from the highest levels of government.

Earlier this month, Karzai publicly supported a decree by the Ulema Council, a government-sponsored group of religious leaders, that said women are worth less than men, should not leave the house without a male escort, or mix with men at school or the workplace.

"The clerics' council of Afghanistan did not put any limitations on women. It is the sharia law of all Muslims and all Afghans," said Karzai, explaining his support of the decree.

Amid this climate there are mounting concerns about what will happen to Afghan women when international forces leave the country. A number of analysts see remarks like Karzai's as an attempt to play both sides in the event the Taliban or other religious groups take on an increasingly active role in the government as international influence wanes.

Especially as Nato-led military forces put mounting emphasis on ending the war by a negotiated settlement with the Taliban, there are concerns about what this could mean for women.

"When they [the Taliban] get power, they will implement their own platform. We know the Taliban's platform … Once they get power and they are assured that they will stay in power then they will introduce their own values and there won't be any space for women," says Massouda Jalal, a former Afghan female presidential candidate. "We don't want Taliban engagement in power because we know the Taliban, like everyone else in the world knows them. They're the same people. They are Taliban and they were Taliban."