As we in the West are experiencing an era of female leadership on the rise, women and young girls in Afghanistan have been deprived even of the right to speak publicly. The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan by violence in August 2021. They had said that they would protect the rights of women in Afghanistan. But as soon as the United States and its allies had left the country the Taliban patriarchy quickly introduced laws to limit the rights of women. By the end of 2021 many laws limited the rights of women: girls were barred from secondary education after grade 6, women were not allowed to teach in universities or work for the government. Further changes were also introduced: women are now banned from parks and from participating in sports.
Women cannot travel from their home at any time without a male guardian. In recent months even more extreme changes have been announced: women have to wear a burqa from head to toe to always cover their face and body when leaving home, and another law said that their voices could not be heard in public. The Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of vice introduced this law. “Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear, ‘’ the Minister said. A woman’s voice is considered “awrah” meaning “that which must be covered”. These laws are being enforced by the Taliban’s Morality Police who are not afraid to use violence to crush opposition to these laws. Human Rights advocates say that the Taliban are setting up “a system of gender apartheid” in Afghanistan.
Despite this Afghan women are demonstrating against the government and speaking out to Western journalists from the BBC. One Afghan woman said: “Every moment you feel that you are in prison.” Another said: “We are like dead bodies moving around, we can’t do anything”. A woman arrested by the Taliban police told the BBC reporter: “We were treated like animals.” After being released from detention, she said: “We weren’t the same people we were before.” Some women have taken their protests online and recorded themselves singing in opposition to the regime. Even though many governments are condemning the Taliban’s laws, change is unlikely for Afghan women. The Taliban does not like to engage with the outside world so the future does not look promising for the brave women of Afghanistan.
Women and child walking an empty street, dressed in traditional burqas. Photo Credit Getty Images
