Back in 2001 Americans were told that the Taliban represented a threat to the freedom of not just Americans, but the Afghans themselves. Their brutal regime turned that country into a thugocracy, stripping the rights of both women and men alike, but most definitely women. So we went in and toppled the Taliban.

Yet here we are 10 years later, and though things are undoubtedly better, women still face prison time for adultery, even though they were raped. Such was the story of Gulnaz, an Afghan woman who was raped over two years ago, and produced a child from the act. She was originally given two years, which was then increased to 12, and then cut back down to three. The price for her “early” release? Marry her rapist.

The requirement now seems to have been dropped due to international attention, but what about the other women who face the same situation? Who don’t get the same attention as Gulnaz’s case? Will they be forced to marry the person who caused them the most pain of their lives? Why should they, and why should they have to go to jail otherwise? There was a clear victim and a clear perpetrator here, and I don’t think the government of Afghanistan understands that, and they should. Certainly Hamid Karzai should, given his supposed position as the anti-Taliban man.

I cannot be culturally relativistic here. There is no misunderstanding of a culture here. It’s barbaric, and nothing less. Rape is all about power, and the government only solidifies that power over the victim by handing them off to the rapist. No woman should have to live under those conditions for the rest of their lives.

Something in the culture of Afghanistan needs to be changed if it is to be held up as a beacon of hope for the rest of the Middle East. Until then, new Afghanistan, not much different than the old Afghanistan.