Existing comment:
Jodi Bieber
South Africa, Institute for Artist Management / Goodman Gallery for Time
World Press Photo of the Year 2010
Bibi Aisha (18) was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband's house in Oruzgan province, in the center of Afghanistan. She had returned to her parents' home, complaining of violent treatment by her in-laws. Men arrived here one night demanding that she be handed over to be punished for running away. Aisha was taken to a mountain clearing, where, at the orders of a Taliban commander, she was held down and had first her ears sliced off, and then her nose. In local culture, a man who has been shamed by his wife is said to have lost his nose, and this is seen as punishment in return. Aisha was abandoned, but later rescued and taken to a shelter in Kabul run by the aid organization Women for Afghan Women, where she was given treatment and psychological help. After time in the refuge, she was taken to America to receive further counseling and reconstructive surgery. |