Photo under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 (No changes made)
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, women’s rights have slowly deteriorated. Women are no longer allowed to go to school, work, leave home without a male chaperone, show their skin in public, seek healthcare given by men, have involvement in politics, or speak in public. The Taliban is a group that assembled in 1994, mostly consisting of soldiers who fought in Afghanistan’s civil war. Their goal was to turn Afghanistan into an Islamic state, however, they have been known for their abuse of human rights and women’s rights.
Restrictions Against Females
Although the female population had restrictions before the Taliban takeover, it was exceedingly less aggressive than it is today. In the 60’s, women could go to school, dress how they wanted and work in now forbidden jobs, such as medicine. Women today are now required to dress in burqas, which are loose-fitting veils, with a cloth fully covering the face. Some people blame the abuse women endure on the fact that Afghanistan is a Muslim country, but many other Islamic countries are not as strict. Afghanistan started practicing Islam between the 7th and 10th century, and women’s rights issues have been prominent since about the 1960s. Afghanistan is also the most dangerous country to be a woman, but other Islamic countries are nowhere near the levels of danger they are.
“Can you imagine? We can not talk outside. We can not even talk loudly inside our home, because if our neighbors hear our voices, it is a very big sin,” Anonymous said in an interview with Sky News.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women are not allowed basic human rights, such as education. Although it is banned for women to appear on television, Sky News was able to get footage titled, “Afghan Girls’ Secret Video Diaries,” sharing their testimonies and how they live their lives.
“We are not humans. We do not have feelings. We have nothing,” An anonymous woman said in an interview with Sky News.
Abuse of Human Rights
The Taliban not only abuses human rights, but they also use violent tactics to control women. They are very hypocritical with their rules, and specifically, target women. For example, there have been many instances where men commit heinous crimes such as domestic abuse, assault, or murder on their wives or other women and receive no punishment. However, women who endure rape or other crimes are convicted of “moral crimes,” and are stoned to death as punishment.
Many organizations and fundraisers are built on the foundation of attempting to help Afghan women, with high-influence celebrities, such as Meryl Streep, speaking out against the Taliban. Leaders of various countries such as the USA, Canada, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands also stepped up against the Taliban, saying that they violated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is a treaty established in 1979, requiring all countries to promote women’s rights.
Limited Freedoms
“A cat may feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park… A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary, this is a suppression of the natural law. This is odd,” Streep said at The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan event, on September 25th, 2024.
Even the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, publicly criticized the ban on education for women in Afghanistan. He said that he wished the government would open up the doors to knowledge. He said that men and women should have equal rights when it came to education, saying he has met many remarkable women who have vastly contributed to the country. He also quoted The Prophet, stating that what is happening to women is against Islam, and unacceptable. Since Stanikzai’s speech, the supreme leader of the Taliban has allegedly ordered a travel ban and for the minister to be arrested.
