There used to be a time when Afghanistan’s police would simply send abused women back to their husbands. Those days, however, may be waning.

The New York Times reports today that although only a few years ago cops sided with abusive husbands or accused raped women of dishonoring their families, they’re now starting to see the light.

Since the Taliban was ousted from power in many parts of the country, a small group of women’s advocates has helped set up shelters and other outlets for women seeking relief from oppressive tribal laws and culture. Don’t be mistaken – there are plenty of ways women are kept down in the male-dominated society and stigmatized. Beatings and female trafficking are still horribly all-too common. In 2007, almost 500 women chose to kill or severely disfigure themselves (often by setting themselves on fire) to escape forced marriages, slavery or sexual abuse.

But what’s happening in Afghanistan is that baby steps are in fact being taken to break what one female advocate called the "culture of silence" when it comes to abuse. In a country that for centuries has considered women to be the devalued property of men, that’s a good sign. 

"’Women’s rights’ was a very new word for them," Nabila Wafez, who works in Afghanistan for the women’s rights division of Germany’s Medica Mondiale, told the Times. "But now we’re openly saying it."