The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Monday announced a 25 percent jump in reported cases of human rights violations against women in Afghanistan in 2013.
November 25 is the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women. The AIHRC released a report that stated 4,154 cases of human rights violations had been filed by Afghan women in only six months of the current solar year.
The report comes as many have expressed concerns about the future of women's rights in Afghanistan, an issue which saw marked improvement since the fall of the Taliban but has since seen setbacks with 2013 seeing a spike in violence against women, according to the United Nations.
Sima Samar, the Chairwoman of AIHRC, argued insecurity, lack of education and the continued prominence of misogynistic cultural norms were the primary roots of the problem when it came to respect for women's rights in Afghanistan.
Samar was adamant about people becoming more aware of the various kinds of violations that take place, beyond just physical violence.
"For example, a woman came to us and said she had been beaten, she was forbidden to go to work and work and also she was deprived of food," Samar said.
According to AIHRC, violations against women can include psychological, physical, sexual, economic and verbal mistreatment.
The report released on Monday said that one of the major obstacles to improving the quality of life for Afghan women was the fact law enforcement officials - in the police and the judiciary - don't advocate for women and often often refuse to follow-up on their claims.
Based on accounts provided by regional human rights groups on Monday, it did not seem that the issue was unique to any specific area of the country either.
The head of Women Affairs in the Helmand provincial government said that violations against women were increasing every day. Jamila Niazi said that 50 cases violations were registered since the beginning of current solar year.
"An ideology exists in the minds of the people to not allow girls to get educations." Niazi said. "According to their ideology, girls going to school is against Islam."
The Regional Commission of AIHRC in the North announced on Monday that violations against women had increased by 60 percent. The office's head, Qazi Sayed Mohammad Sami, said more than 500 cases had been documented in the first eight months of the year.
He said the number of cases was only 280 during the same period of 2012.
The AIHRC's report argued building women's awareness of their rights and available services, providing more employment opportunities for women and increasing the amount of courts and legal officers available for women across the country were the most important steps to take.
Many activists have also called on the National Assembly to finalize the Elimination of VIolence Against Women Law, which remains stalled and un-implemented due to the objections of a minority of representatives who claim it goes against certain precepts of Islam.