Consequences of domestic violence on Children in Afghanistan

Written by: Muhammad Arif Rahimi

Almost in every Afghan family, a kind of violence is seen. Sometimes this violence is verbal and sometimes its physical but, in both cases, domestic violence leaves bad effects on children.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some children and physicians about this issue.

A girl, Kobra says when her parents have a quarrel, she becomes sad and cries and even could not eat food.

A boy, Mansoor says: “Whenever a quarrel takes place between my mother and father, I hate everything and I could not go to sleep during the night. If I go to sleep, I dream the same quarrel. When I go to school, I think about the violence between my parent and I could not concentrate on my school lessons.”

Doctor Wahidullah Haidary, a mental health specialist at Kabul mental hospital says: “quarrels and arguments between parents directly effect on children. The children might face depression, lose their courage to take part in playing and if they take part in playing, they might quarrel with other children; they could not learn their school lesson well; they might face physical and mental problems and in they might grow up nervous.”

How to prevent children not to involve such problems?

Mansoor, a resident of Maidan-Wardak Province says: “whenever a quarrel was taking place between my parents, I did not want to see it and was leaving the scene. After the end of the argument, I was talking to each of them separately and convincing them that quarrel has bad consequences and now there is no quarrel in our house and we live in a peaceful environment.”

Doctor Haiday says: “parents should find the route of the problem and solve it in a peaceful way. If one of them accept his/her mistake, there would be no need for physical or verbal quarrel. The children of such family would be grown in a peaceful environment; they might not face mental or physical illness and they would grow up healthy and could learn their school lesson easily.”