Taliban’s edicts and directives denying Afghan women and girls their human rights and existence
Since taking power for a second time in August 2021, the Taliban has regularly issued orders and directives that systematically eliminate Afghan women and girls’ legal rights, freedoms, and human status. Of the total 80 edicts issued by the Taliban until January 2023, 54 target women specifically. The terrorist group has been promoting misogynistic policies and gender apartheid in Afghanistan and should not be recognized by the United States and the United Nations. So far, no government has officially and publicly recognized the Taliban. However, some countries like China, Russia, Iran, Qatar, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the European Union, and a few others have opened their offices in Kabul. Some countries in the region, such as Pakistan, Iran, China, Russia, Qatar, and UAE – have officially allowed Taliban representatives and diplomats in their countries.
While the Taliban is more obsessed with taking away the rights of Afghan women and girls, they have also destroyed a once thriving media scene. They have issued rules for health professionals that make it difficult for them to do their job. Professors, teachers, and anyone who poses a threat to the Taliban have been under surveillance, and some have been arrested by the Taliban. The following list includes orders about women and girls, media, health, and various fields.
The Taliban started with mild restrictions and became harsher over time, resulting in the complete imprisonment of women behind the walls of their houses. This is not an inclusive list, as the Taliban often issues orders verbally through radios and gatherings too. Violating these rules is often met with a swift and harsh response.
Education
The Taliban has targeted the education sector the most, banning it fully for girls and revising the entire curriculum for boys too. Schools and universities have become segregated, and teaching hours have been reduced significantly. Teachers and professors are paid less and have been under extreme pressure to obey the Taliban rules.
Worse yet, the Taliban has severely targeted girls’ and women’s education. Women and girls are prohibited from education, making Afghanistan the only country where women and girls are banned from education by the so-called state authorities. Below are some of the edicts on education:
- In August 2021, the Taliban segregated education and that men teachers could no longer teach girls at all levels.
- In the early days of their return to power, the Taliban announced a ban on girls’ secondary education. Since September 12, girls aged 13 and up have not returned to school.
- In September 2021, women were banned from attending and teaching at Kabul University.
- In February 2022, the Taliban ordered universities to enforce gender-segregated classrooms.
- In March 2022, the Taliban announced the reopening of girls’ schools. The reopening order lasted only a few hours, and schools were ordered to close on the day of the official opening of the new school year in Afghanistan.
- The same month, the Taliban de-facto officials announced that schools for girls in grades 7 and up would remain closed.
- To fully segregate education, the Taliban announced three days of a week for women and three days for male university students.
June 2022
In a central province, Ghazni, women students were forced to cover their faces or face expulsion.
- In June 2022, the Taliban ordered female students in Ghazni in grades 4-6 to cover their faces while commuting to school or face expulsion.
Note: June 28: Held an all-male gathering of 4,500 clerics and leaders in Kabul. Claimed men can sufficiently represent the views of female relatives.
August 2022
In August 2022, women students were told to cover their faces in classrooms fully as well, although the teachers were female too.
September 2022
In September 2022, secondary education became fully banned for girls.
- In some provinces, secondary schools had opened for a brief period but closed the schools for girls that had briefly opened in Paktia.
- Female students were banned from taking videos and photos on the university campus.
October 2022
Young girls were expelled from classes, a student was flogged for wearing jeans, and women were told they could not pursue certain fields in education.
- In October 2022, hundreds of teenage female students were expelled from their schools in Kandahar.
- The same month, women were banned from choosing agriculture, mining, civil engineering, veterinary, and journalism as their study majors. Taliban said these subjects are “too difficult for women.”
December 2022
In December 2022, the Taliban issued some of the harshest edicts.
Female students can no longer attend higher education and work with NGOs.
- The Taliban banned female students from public and private universities “until further notice.” A further notice often means indefinitely because the decision rarely gets revised, especially one that’s about women.
- To cripple women further, the Taliban Ministry of Education banned girls beyond grade 6 from attending private courses. These courses are often about a specific subject and mostly focus on math and chemistry. In normal times, these classes are usually taught after-school but have become more popular since the Taliban took control of the government. It became the only option for most students to continue to pursue education in some critical areas.
Media
Since the Taliban’s return, a once thriving media has been vanishing. Few media outlets remain working, and it has become almost impossible for them to maintain accuracy related to government issues, security, freedom of media, women’s rights and human rights, and more. A majority of the journalists have fled the country or have become unemployed because all media outlets had to downsize. The media has also lost most of its funding, making it impossible for the outlets to operate.
November 2021
In November 2021, women were banned from appearing in shows and movies on TV.
- Women were banned from television dramas. Women cannot participate in shows and movies, and foreign shows showing women are not allowed to air either.
September 2022
In September 2022, women journalists were ordered to cover their faces on TV.
- September 26: Ordered media outlets that female TV guests must cover faces.
October 2022
The only woman from the Commission of Media Violations was also removed.
- In October 2022, the Taliban removed the only seat held by a woman from the Commission of Media Violations.
Freedom of Movement
Under the Taliban, women have lost all their freedom of movement. They cannot go anywhere without a close male relative accompanying them and are told to leave their houses “only when necessary.” Women’s movement has been so severely restricted that, in some cases, they could be shot if they are seen without a face covering and alone outside their homes.
As soon as the Taliban arrived in Kabul on August 15 2021, they asked women to stay home for their “protection.”
- In August 2021, the Taliban ordered women to stay at home because their soldiers were “not familiar with seeing women outside the house and were not trained to respect women.” This supposedly temporary ban announced on August 25 has been in effect since then.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was replaced with that to police women and society – the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
- The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was replaced with the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on September 17. The Virtue and Vice Ministry operates as a morality police and is considered one of the most important offices of the Taliban.
- The same month, on September 20, professional women were ordered to stay at home under further notice. No changes have been made to the notice, and women have been forced to stay away from their jobs. Before the Taliban, 27% of the public servants were women.
- Women were banned from attending and teaching at Kabul University.
- December 26: Banned women from traveling long-distance (72 km/45 miles) road trips without a mahram.
- December 29: Closed public baths for women in Balkh.
January 2022
More restrictions were imposed on women. More places were ordered not to serve women.
- In January 2022, the Taliban issued an order to close public baths for women in Balkh, in the northern province of Afghanistan, where public baths for women were common.
- January 7: Ordered coffee shop owners in Herat, a province in the West of Afghanistan, not to serve women if a mahram/male custodian does not accompany them.
February 2022
Segregation and restricting women’s movement remained the utmost priority for the Taliban.
- Ordered universities to enforce gender-segregated classrooms.
- Banned women from traveling abroad without a mahram/close male family member and without a “legitimate reason.”
March 2022
Women were denied easy access to health services.
- In March 2022, women were banned from entering health centers without a mahram or male custodian.
- The same month, workplaces became segregated for men and women.
- On March 27, women were banned from traveling abroad without a mahram or male custodian and “without a legitimate reason.”
- The Taliban official ordered that women must not be employed in offices and must not leave home. The order was issued by the Ministry of Interior and signed by the Chief of staff of the Deputy for Security Affairs.
April 2022
Recreational parks and university classes were segregated by gender.
- In April 2022, the Taliban dictated different days for men and women to visit parks.
May 2022
Women cannot obtain a driving license, cannot take public transport if alone, and must wear a “burqa” outside the home.
- On May 5, 2022, the Taliban ordered to stop issuing driving licenses to women.
- Few days later, on May 7th, the Taliban issued another edict, ordering that women are not allowed to use public transport if they are alone. This means a woman must be accompanied by a close male relative when leaving the house.
- On May 7th, the Taliban issued a “recommendation and implementation” plan regarding proper hijab, stating that the best hijab is for women to wear a burqa or stay home. The word recommendation is often used to escape public scrutiny over their bizarre rules. A recommendation has the same effect as an order.
June 2022
In a central province, Ghazni, women students were forced to cover their faces or face expulsion.
July 2022
Taliban asked women employees to send their men instead to their jobs.
- On July 18, Taliban officials told the women employees of the Ministry of Finance to send a male relative to take their jobs if they wanted to be paid their salaries. The men would take the women’s jobs no matter their expertise or skills.
August 2022
Flight attendants were fired, and morality police were established for women. Parks became fully segregated.
- On August 10, female flight attendants were fired from their jobs.
- On August 23, the Taliban established the women’s morality police department, specifically going after women to implement their rules and edicts.
- On August 25, the Taliban issued a statement banning women from going to parks because parks authorities cannot ensure segregation between men and women.
November 2022
Women can no longer go to parks and gyms.
- On November 6, the Taliban closed public baths for women in Badghis, another province in the northwestern part of the country.
- On November 10, the Taliban banned women and girls from parks and gyms.
December 2022
The month of December crushed the remaining hope of Afghan women where they could continue their higher education and work with local and international NGOs. Female students were no longer allowed to attend higher education or work with NGOs.
- On December 24, the Taliban banned female staff from working for I/NGOs.
- On December 27, the Taliban banned women-run bakeries in Kabul.
Rolling Back Women’s Achievements
So much was achieved under the previous government in stopping forced marriage, underage marriages, domestic violence, women’s employment, etc. All of these achievements have been rolled back by the Taliban. Women were inching closer to getting their equal status, but all of that stopped when the Taliban took control of the government.
August 2021
Young girls were forced to marry Taliban soldiers and women were forced to stay home. Amnesty was denied to those who worked with the former republic.
- Ordered imams/clerics to bring lists of unmarried women aged 12 to 45 for their fighters to marry.
- Announced amnesty for opposition and former pro-republic officials and urged women to join the Taliban’s government. The amnesty never went into effect.
September 2021
Ministry of Women’s Affairs was replaced with that to police women and society – the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
- The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was replaced with the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on September 17. The Virtue and Vice Ministry operates as a morality police and is considered one of the most important offices of the Taliban.
- The same month, on September 20, professional women were ordered to stay at home under further notice. No changes have been made to the notice, and women have been forced to stay away from their jobs. Before the Taliban, 27% of the public servants were women.
May 2022
Women cannot obtain a driving license, cannot take public transport if alone, and must wear a “burqa” outside the home.
- On May 16, the Taliban dissolved the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.
July 2022
Taliban asked women employees to send their men instead to their jobs.
- July 18: Directs women, employees of the ministry of finance, to send a male relative to take their jobs if they want to be paid their salaries.
August 2022
Flight attendants were fired, and morality police were established for women. Parks became fully segregated.
- August 23: Established a female morality police department, specifically going after women.
November 2022
Women can no longer go to parks and gyms, and the chopping of limbs and public flogging are reinstated for even pity crimes.
- November 14: Taliban Supreme Leader reinstated Hudud and Qasas/chopping of limbs punishments in cases such as robbery, kidnapping, and sedition.
December 2022
Women students are no longer allowed to attend higher education or work with NGOs.
- December 24: Taliban banned female staff from working for I/NGOs.
Restrictions on the Health Sector
February 2022
Note: In February, the Taliban in Geneva signed a document vowing to “facilitate principled humanitarian action in Afghanistan and to ensure the protection of humanitarian workers and aid…”
March 2022
March 2: Banned women from entering health centers without a mahram.
January 2023
Women health professionals were ordered to bring a mahram – a close male relative as an escort to work.
