Four years since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, waves of directives have stripped Afghan women and girls of their rights and dignity. These restrictions are not temporary; not one has been reversed. The Taliban is closer than ever to achieving its vision of a society that completely erases women from public life. The most severe women’s rights crisis in the world is at risk of becoming normalized.
There is nothing normal about the way women in Afghanistan have their lives restricted, their health compromised and their freedom so severely restricted.
Girls are banned from school after the age of about 13. Women are barred from most jobs, from political life and, in many parts of the country, can’t walk on the streets unaccompanied by men. Most women can’t even make decisions within their own households.
Bans on women studying medicine in universities, and on women being treated by male doctors in some parts of the country – as well as foreign aid cuts – mean that more women are not getting the medical care they need.
This should not be happening in the 21st century.
The results are devastating. Women are living shorter, less healthy lives. Maternal mortality risks and child marriage rates are rising and violence against women is growing unchecked.
The state of women’s rights in Afghanistan has made it the country with the second-widest gender gap in the world (second only to Yemen). Overlapping humanitarian crises and poverty are making life even harder for everyone, especially women and girls.
Despite everything, hope endures. Afghan women and girls continue to show strength, resilience and courage. They believe that equality is possible. But they should not have to face these challenges alone while they fight to build a better Afghanistan for everyone.
The world must act now – not just to meet urgent needs, but to support Afghan women to build a generation’s future with equal rights for all women and girls. Silence is not an option. Solidarity is not optional.
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The world ostracised South Africa in protest against apartheid it must stand up against this barbaric treatment of women.
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If the Taliban succeed in Afghanistan the erasure of women’s freedoms won’t stop there.
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
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