Author: Arezu Fayyazi

The Taliban has banned education for Afghan girls and women beyond the 6th grade for over three years and higher education for two years. Until recently, the only pathway for education that remained was medical institutions for Afghan women. Two weeks ago, the Taliban announced that female students would be barred from attending medical institutions as well – until further notice. 

Shortly after the ban, Afghan women expressed their worries and allies and leaders around the world condemned the Taliban’s new order. With the removal of medical training, Afghan women are left feeling more hopeless than ever before – with one stating “I’m watching my dreams die before my eyes.” 

Under the Taliban, Afghan women have lost their rights to work, speaking in public or even loudly at home, and so much more. The country formerly known as the graveyard of empires has now become a graveyard for women’s dreams, hopes, and aspirations. 

The Taliban’s decision to close medical institutions is not only a violation of women’s rights, but it is a debilitating decision for the health services in Afghanistan. A previous Taliban edict has already restricted women’s access to health services by banning women from entering health centers without a male guardian and seeing a male doctor. Another edict prevents women health professionals from practicing without a male chaperone, and ordering women not to be employed in outside offices. With this recently announced edict, they are removing women from an already vulnerable health sector. 

Before 2021, Afghanistan’s healthcare system heavily relied on women as community healthcare workers to deliver vaccines and to provide midwifery and maternal and child health services. The education and training of midwives was a key factor that decreased maternal mortality by about 64% from 2001-2015. Women strengthened the health workforce by filling the shortage of healthcare workers and supplementing the delivery of care to Afghan citizens, which reinforced two aspects of the WHO’s health system delivery blocks – service delivery and health workforce. 

The removal of women from the workforce along with the migration of educated professionals in the health sector, Afghanistan is faced with a severe shortage of health workers. It is also reversing the progress made in the healthcare system during the 20 years of the republic regime, backed by the international community. UN women projects that maternal mortality will rise by 50% and early childbearing will increase by 45% by 2026. 

Afghan women are denied their rights only because they are women and they need their allies to stand with them and raise their issues at this dark time. 

Sources: Amu TV, Feminist Majority Foundation, Washington Post, National Library of Medicine, Tolo News 

December 10 is International Human Rights Day. It is a day to commemorate human rights for all regardless of their background, ethnicity, and gender. In Afghanistan, this day stands as a stark reminder of the fundamental rights Afghan women have been denied by the Taliban regime.

Afghan women are mourning the loss of their fundamental human rights and their freedoms. They have not been able to celebrate this monumental day since 2021 when the Taliban took power by force and started enforcing their restrictive edicts. During the three years of the Taliban in power, there has been a complete reversal of all women’s rights advancements made during the previous 20 years of growth in this sector. 

Taliban officials are proudly announcing that 80% of women’s rights have been achieved under their establishment. However, Afghan girls cannot attend school beyond the sixth grade, women are not allowed to pursue education or any training even in midwifery or nursing, women cannot be employed, and they don’t have any freedom of movement. They can no longer leave their house without a male chaperone, they cannot be heard in public, or even speak with one another amongst many other horrifying restrictions. 

While the Human Rights Day is a somber day for Afghan women, it marks a day of reflection for the global community. The international community must stand together to support the realization of Afghan women’s rights in the hope that the next International Human Rights Day in 2025 will be described as a day of celebration for Afghan women instead of a day of sorrow. 

When the Taliban took power in 2021, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman, promised that “the Taliban would honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law.” 

Three years later, Sait-ul-Islam Khyber, the Taliban’s spokesman for their Ministry of Vice and Virtue, said “80% of women’s rights have been provided to them. These rights include marriage, inheritance, or freedoms that Islam grants them and are their fundamental rights.” The Ministry also cited that they prevented almost 5000 forced marriages since the Taliban takeover in 2021. 

However, their claims do not represent the reality for Afghan women. 

Their continued release of restrictive edicts barring women from school or working has placed an enormous amount of pressure on women and increased the rates of forced marriages. A study conducted by Amu TV revealed that the rise in forced marriages since 2021 could be tied to the impacts of economic poverty and the Taliban’s ban on education. The limited economic opportunities for women following the ban on education has led to families seeing marriage as the only option. The Taliban’s latest edicts ban Afghan women from speaking in public or even being heard by other adult women.

In their first effort to expressly show their contempt for women’s rights, the Taliban shut down the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 2021 following return to power. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was a crucial factor in protecting women’s wellbeing and their rights. They were instrumental in decreasing forced marriages before 2021. Since its closure and occupation by the Taliban’s so-called Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – in other morality police –  there is once again a rise in forced marriages and women are living with domestic violence due to the absence of legal support. 

Furthermore, recently issued edicts of the Taliban directly contradict any assurance in guaranteeing women’s rights. The Taliban announced that women must cover their entire body and face when leaving the house and their voices are now banned in public places. Women are not allowed to sing, talk, or even recite a prayer loud enough for other men and women to hear without facing repercussions. 

According to a woman health professional currently working in Afghanistan, female healthcare professionals cannot even talk about medical issues to men in healthcare facilities. 

Under the Taliban, women’s rights are not 80% met. After over three years of the Taliban in action, the international community must not take the Taliban for their word. The international community must take into account the Taliban’s actions and condemn the system of Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan. 

Sources: AP News, Amu TV, Al Jazeera, The Independent 

In times of conflict, political instability, and social unrest, women and children have always been the ones who face the most dire consequences compared to the rest of the population. 

It is nearly three years since the Taliban returned to power and their extremist views and restricting edicts against Afghan women has been one of the major  human rights crises. Afghan women’s rights are under constant attack by the Taliban. However, the silent struggle that Afghan women are facing on top of the restrictions on their rights and existence is food insecurity and malnutrition. 

Women are struggling to feed their children and themselves, leaving them all malnourished. 

Currently, 15.5 million people are considered to be facing acute food insecurity, 2.7 million of which are in an emergency situation. In 2023, it is estimated that 1.2 million Afghan women were malnourished. According to the World Food Programme, this number is only expected to grow this year. The statistics for Afghan children are also supposed to grow this year, reaching 3 million malnourished children. 

Acute malnutrition is at a dire point for women and children as about 50% of  children under five years of age and 25% of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers need nutritional support in the coming 12 months in order to survive. 

The context behind this crippling reality for Afghan women is a combination of many factors, including a struggling economy as well as high unemployment rates. With a struggling economy, Afghan families are unable to pay for food to support their families. When the Taliban takeover occurred, a large number of Afghan families lost their main sources of income as international aid was suspended in sectors including the government, non-profits, humanitarian efforts, and in education and health sectors. Furthermore, Afghanistan is facing rising rates of inflation that make food and nutrition expensive for families to buy. 

The Taliban’s restrictions on women also exacerbates the malnutrition crisis. Even highly educated women cannot earn income because of the Taliban restrictions on their employment and freedom of movement. 

Afghanistan’s hunger and malnutrition crisis is often forgotten given the other wars around the world where famine and food crises are more visible. However, in addition to food insecurity, Afghanistan is one of the top 10 countries facing maternal and child mortality due to several reasons, including malnutrition. The health of women and children will continue to drastically decline unless sustainable interventions, such as allowing women to work and earn an income, are put in place to support families.

The consequences of a malnourished population of women and children are severe. With malnourished children, the next generation of Afghanistan will face life-long health consequences, such as  cognitive impairment, and will have far worse quality of life. The economy will suffer as well because of a lack of a qualified and educated workforce. The GDP will continue to face losses and the recovery will take even longer. 

Importantly, when an expecting mother is malnourished, it is more likely that their child will be born of a low-birth weight. This opens a large possibility of future health concerns for the child, including increased risk of adult chronic disease, frequent infections, and reduced mental and physical capacity. 

Targeting malnutrition in Afghanistan and working to improve the nutrition of women and children must become as much of a priority as it has been in other parts of the world where there’s more visibility on food starvation. Targeting malnutrition means improving the health, physical growth, cognitive development, school performance, and productivity of Afghan women and children. By supporting the growth of a strong and prepared population of women and children, there is the potential to improve Afghanistan’s social and economic development in addition to the empowerment of women. 

Sources: Ariana News, Khaama Press, Human Rights Watch, World Food Programme, Relief Web, UNSCN, UNICEF  

Women’s rights to an education have been under attack by the Taliban since the terrorist group took over in August 2021. The group continues to roll out restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan everyday. At this moment, girls are not allowed to go to university or secondary school. Even private courses are banned for girls over grade six and in some parts of the country, even lower. 

While these restrictions have been in place for almost 2.5 years, and while the future implications are not as visible now, future loss that results from preventing girls from attending schools will be immeasurable. Much needed human capital is being wasted by the Taliban as women are not allowed to enter the workforce now and in the future, women will lack the skills and competencies even further. 

In the meantime, innovation is lagging as there is less diversity of thought and skills and female voices leading the drive for innovation are missing. Economic losses could be huge from the lack of innovation and human capital from intelligent female professionals if the Taliban continues to take away the right of education from Afghan women and girls. 

The UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) estimates that restricting access to education led to a 21% decrease in employment levels of women by mid-2022 and a GDP loss of $1 billion USD per year. Afghanistan’s economy is already suffering as it “relies heavily on external support and its private sector is weak.” 

Given the already fragile economy, it is crucial that Afghanistan strengthens its economy by building its human capital and the private sector. However, limiting the education of women and excluding them socially and economically means that the Afghan economy will not have the opportunity to recover if they exclude roughly half of the population (48.3%) from entering the workforce with relevant knowledge and skills. 

Furthermore, from 2001-2021, women transformed the political, economic, and social scene for Afghan women as well by receiving an education and using it to pursue jobs in any field, contribute to their communities and societies. Women had the opportunity to be politically active and loud. 

According to the UN Women, “By 2021, Afghan women had secured 69 out of 249 seats in parliament, women were negotiating peace across the country, and even a law was in place allowing women to include their names on their children’s birth certificates and identification cards. There was a Ministry of Women’s Affairs, an independent human rights commission, and a law-making violence against women a crime. But more than this, women were visible—from law, politics, and journalism, to sidewalks, parks, and schools.” 

The social and political progress made for women during the time where education was accessible and promoted for women demonstrates how there is a direct correlation between higher education for women and progress in Afghanistan. 

In a state where education is limited for women, this could only mean that progress in Afghanistan will be stunted in terms of political and social growth. Afghan women worked hard to improve the status of women and create a space for them in society. 

Decreasing the political participation of women leads to a larger gender divide, further increasing the gender apartheid that exists in Afghanistan. 

Even in the healthcare sector, there is a direct relationship between women’s education and health. When women were able to pursue education, the number of midwives and midwifery education increased tremendously as well, lowering the mortality rates of infants and women during birth. There was a direct correlation from increased educational opportunities, increased number of active midwives, and a lower maternal mortality. From 2000 to 2015 as midwifery education expanded, maternal mortality decreased by 64%. 

The long-term impact of women being prevented from education is not only the removal from the social spheres, and economic losses, women’s health will also suffer as the number of midwives decreases with restricted education and maternal mortality increases. 

Education should be protected because not only is it a violation, but allowing women to pursue education creates a opportunities for women where they are able to feel confident to make their own decisions, amplify their own voices, and advocate for the rights to education, health, autonomy, etc., and improve the state of Afghanistan politically, socially, and economically. 

Sources: 

UNSDG; World Bank; UN Women; The Lancet Global Health

The Taliban has been punishing women with arrests and physical violence citing claims of what the group calls “bad hijab.” Abdul Ghafar Farooq, the spokesman for the Taliban, has stated that women “violated the Islamic values and rituals, and encouraged society and other respected sisters to go for bad hijab. In every province, those who go without hijab will be arrested.” 

In response to the arrests of Afghan women for “bad hijab,” members of Together Stronger have released a statement condemning the Taliban for these arrests. Together Stronger is a coalition of advocates with women from inside and outside of Afghanistan. 

The coalition states that with the recent “illegal arrests” of women and girls, the Taliban intend “to completely erase women from society, an act that confirms gender apartheid in Afghanistan.” These arrests are a continuation to the unjust edicts, moving forward the Taliban’s plans to create a fully patriarchal society. 

Within the roughly 2.5 years the Taliban has been in power, there have been more than 100 edicts announced that restrict women. Women have been essentially excluded from the public sphere in Afghanistan. They cannot go to school, women working in public offices cannot return to their jobs. They cannot even visit healthcare facilities without a mahram (male escort). Women and girls not only lack the freedom of mobility and freedom of autonomy with the increasing number of edicts being issued, they are facing tremendous security issues as well. 

Women in Afghanistan through Together Stronger are telling the world that women are being arrested, abducted, beaten, and forced into unknown locations at the hands of Taliban members. Their rights and dignity are being violated with new rules being imposed upon them on a regular basis. 

In the face of escalating violence, arrests, abductions, and daily harassment, Afghan women and girls are urging their allies to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them and hold the Taliban accountable for inflicting harm and violating their basic human rights. 

Source:

Together Stronger