A woman by the name of Gulnaz was raped at the age of 16 by her cousin's husband. She was jailed for committing adultery. Her attacker, Asadullah, was convicted but it was later reduced. He still says that he never raped her. From the rape, Gulnaz had a daughter who was then named, Smile. Later Gulnaz was forced by the government to marry Asadullah because of culture issues. Asadullah says, "If I hadn't married her, (but) according to our traditions, she couldn't have lived back in society. Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now, she doesn't have any of those problems." When Asadullah leaves the room, Gulnaz says, "My brothers opposed the marriage and told me to take my daughter and go to Pakistan to live with them instead. But now we're married, they disowned me and won't see me again." Her closer family would not accept her if she did not marry Asadullah. She had no support from family or friends, only support from people of other cultures. Now she is married to Asadullah and is pregnant with their third child. She wants her first child, Smile, to grow up a be successful without shame. Gulnaz says, "No, I couldn't fulfill my wishes in life. I married this man; I cut relations with my family only to buy my daughter's future." Her husband and family members are putting false ides in her head and now she tells the story as if she was not raped even though four years ago she claimed she was.
"Instead of a new start, what followed for Gulnaz was a quiet, Afghan solution to the "problem" -- a telling sign of where women's rights stand in Afghanistan despite the billions that have poured into this country from the U.S. government and its NATO allies during more than a decade of war."
Walsh, Nick. "An Afghan Nightmare: Forced to Marry Your Rapist" CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 9 April 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/asia/afghanistan-gulnaz-rape-marriage/?iid=ob_article_topstories_pool&iref=obinsite>.