Women's rights in Afghanistan: Are we witnessing a revolution?

(CNN)An Amnesty International report released today is calling for authorities to address the number of attacks on women's rights activists in Afghanistan.

The report, entitled "Their Lives on the Line," examines the persecution of activists and other champions of women's rights not only by the Taliban and tribal warlords, but also by government officials.

Its publication is timely. The brutal murder of Farkhunda, a young woman in Afghanistan, whose body was burnt and callously chucked into a river in Kabul, shocked the world.  Accused of burning pages from the Muslim holy book, the Quran, many protested the 27-year-old's innocence.

But what also made international headlines was the fact that for the first time in history, women in Afghanistan became pallbearers, hoisting the victim's coffin on their burqa-clad shoulders, under the gazes of men; unreservedly sobbing and shouting messages of women's solidarity as they marched along the streets.

In a country ranked in 2011 by a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll as the most dangerous place in the world for women, this feminist act seemed perilous. Latest figures suggest they were risking their lives to be heard.

In 2013, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released statistics that showed the number of women killed in the country had increased by 20% from the previous year, although the number of civilian victims had decreased, said Amnesty in the report.  Read More at Women's rights in Afghanistan

Afghanistan | Amnesty International

Women in Afghanistan | Amnesty International USA