It is difficult to imagine what it feels like to be Gulnaz. She was only 19-years-old when she was raped and impregnated by her cousin’s husband in Afghanistan. If that were not bad enough, Gulnaz, along with her baby, are serving a 12-year prison sentence for her “crime” — the crime of being raped — or, as the authorities put it: dishonoring her family by having sexual intercourse out of wedlock.
“He had filthy clothes on as he does metal and construction work. When my mother went out, he came into my house and he closed doors and windows. I started screaming, but he shut me up by putting his hands on my mouth,” Gulnaz said of her rapist.
Now, the only hope for Gulnaz if she wishes to escape prison is to marry her rapist. The move would purportedly restore her honor. An unattractive choice made all the more fruitless by the fact that, if freed, Gulnaz could still face an honor killing by either her rapist’s family, or her own.
“I was asked if I wanted to start a new life by getting released, by marrying this man,” she told CNN in an interview. “My answer was that one man dishonored me, and I want to stay with that man.”
“My daughter is a little innocent child. Who knew I would have a child in this way. A lot of people told me that after your daughter’s born give it to someone else, but my aunt told me to keep her as proof of my innocence.”
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