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
