audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - After three decades of war, Afghanistan's women still face a number of challenges. Violence, sexual assault and lack of enforcement of Afghan laws that protect them are faced by many women every day, many of whom are unaware of their own rights. Herat's female prison holds 140 inmates, whose crimes range from murder to eloping with a lover. Afghanistan has made some progress in advancing women's rights after years of repression under Taliban rule that banned girls from going to school and forced women to 'hide' behind burqas and leave their homes only with a male relative. Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative society controlled by men who regularly turn to tribal leaders whom deliver rulings giving up girls and women to settle debts and disputes. Nowhere is this more evident than the women's prison in Herat, western Afghanistan. Inmates in a jail filled with women are serving time for so-called ''moral'' crimes. Many had sought justice for domestic violence or tried to run away from an abusive situation. In the overwhelmingly male-dominated legal system, where arranged marriages are the norm, women often risk being jailed themselves if they seek justice against domestic violence.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - A jail warden stands guard at the Herat facility. In a country where prison conditions are often poor, the prison has made an effort to improve standards.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - A detainee sits on a bed in her cell room. Female detainees have access to television and radio, a sports field and a kindergarten for children living with their mothers.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Detainees gather for food. Some of the women inmates are serving time for 'moral crimes' such as leaving their husbands.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Very little has changed for women in prison, even 12 years after the Taliban have been ousted from the country. Afghanistan has been determined to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, according to the UN.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Women outside the jail. A program is in place to teach both male and female inmates skills that will help them survive when they are released.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - A detainee looks out of a tiny window in her cell room. The women study embroidery, tailoring, carpet weaving, and shoemaking, and get a cut from sales of the goods they make.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Doors of jail cells when they are open. Herat's female prison holds 140 inmates.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - A woman detainee sits with a sewing machine.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Herat women's Prison as seen from the main road.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Women wait in a waiting room.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Detainees gather for food. Many of the inmates are jailed for so-called 'moral crimes.'
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2012 - Herat, Afghanistan - Women walk outside the jail facility. Afghanistan efforts to enforce laws designed to protect violence against women are slow. There had been an increase in reporting violence against women, but there has been a failure to prosecute.
© Simone Lombardo/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
