For more information about women in governance positions, please refer to the section Justice, Law and Order in Taliban-controlled Territory in this report. For more information on women and Sharia law please refer to the section How is Sharia law interpreted and applied?
UNOHCHR, Afghanistan: Taliban’s targeting of women and NGOs preventing delivery of life-saving assistance is deplorable, say UN experts, 30 December 2022
“GENEVA (29 December 2022) -- UN experts* today denounced and called for an immediate reversal of the Taliban’s recent order barring women from working in international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and supported a unified effort of the international community to take a stand against this latest human rights violation, further banishing women from the workplace, preventing delivery of life-saving aid and crippling the work of NGOs which will have a terrible impact on the entire country. Their statement is as follows: Just 4 days after the Taliban banned women and girls from attending universities, on 24 December, the acting Minister of Economy issued a letter barring women from working in international and national NGOs, a further outrageous violation of women’s rights with the double blow of preventing the delivery of vital life-saving services and denying many women of their livelihood. “The ban on women working in NGOs not only deprives women workers of their fundamental rights and livelihood, but also prevents them from supporting their communities. It will further push women out of jobs and completely erase them from the public sphere,” said the experts. The ban will have a dire impact on local NGOs, particularly women-led NGOs, which have provided services and support for women, children and marginalized groups. Many national civil society organizations will be dealt a grievous blow by this cruel and unlawful decision. The ban will have catastrophic effects on tens of millions of Afghan people in need of humanitarian assistance, especially women and children, as women aid workers play a critical role in needs assessment, planning and implementing the humanitarian response. It is a clear violation of the non-discriminatory practice that should guide all humanitarian aid. Without female humanitarian workers, women and girls as well as boys will not have access to food, education, child protection, gender-responsive legal aid, livelihoods support and essential healthcare services. International and national NGOs that are the main service-providers delivering a large proportion of international aid in Afghanistan and have expanded their operations since August 2021, including through the employment of more female staff. These NGOs are also the target of this extremely harmful and discriminatory measure by the Taliban. Following the decision, some major humanitarian organisations have suspended or reduced their operations both because their services depend on their female workers and because, as a matter of human rights principle, they will not accept the gender composition of their staff being dictated to them, and we agree. The experts said, “We have been observing with deepening concern the volatile situation of humanitarian workers and their operations in the country. The de facto authorities have been routinely interfering in humanitarian operations by requesting excessive information on humanitarian workers and beneficiaries and restricting their activities in ways that are contrary to humanitarian principles. The barring of women employees is the last straw, and a unified response is required. We express our full solidarity and support with those humanitarian agencies that have refused to work under this unconscionable prohibition that is seeking to push women and girls in Afghanistan into oblivion. The UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee has noted that while agencies will endeavour to continue to deliver time critical lifesaving aid, many activities will be paused as they cannot deliver principled humanitarian assistance without female aid workers. We call on all organisations to continue to pay their female staff their full salaries and for donors to support this. Having already denied women and girls their rights to education and limited their freedom of movement, expression, and dress as well as public participation, further denying women’s right to work in NGOs in the middle of winter when the country is grappling with a humanitarian emergency shows the Taliban have no regard for women’s rights or their wellbeing and will stop at nothing. In this case, they are instrumentalising and victimising women and the recipients of critical aid, apparently in a power struggle over control of this sector. This may well be a case of gender persecution, a crime against humanity, and those responsible should be held to account. We call on the de facto authorities to immediately lift the ban on women working with national and international NGOs.”
UNOHCHR, Afghanistan: End destructive, destabilizing policies against women, Türk urges, 27 December 2022
“UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to revoke immediately a raft of policies that target the rights of women and girls, noting both the “terrible, cascading effects” on their lives and the destabilizing risks such policies pose to Afghan society. “No country can develop - indeed survive - socially and economically with half its population excluded. These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, pose a risk beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” Türk said. “I urge the de facto authorities to ensure the respect and protection of the rights of all women and girls - to be seen, to be heard and to participate in and contribute to all aspects of the social, political and economic life of the country, in line with Afghanistan’s international obligations,” he said. On 24 December, the de
facto authorities issued a decree banning women from working in NGOs. They had already suspended university education for women and secondary schooling for girls until what they termed further notice. “This latest decree by the de facto authorities will have terrible consequences for women and for all Afghan people,” the High Commissioner said. “Banning women from working in NGOS will deprive them and their families of their incomes, and of their right to contribute positively to the development of their country and to the well-being of their fellow citizens.” NGOs and humanitarian organisations provide critical life-saving services for many people in Afghanistan, providing food, water, shelter and healthcare, and some critical programmes, such as pre- and post-natal and infant care, are only provided by women. Many staff working for these NGOs are female and many of the organisations have women in leadership roles. They are essential partners for the UN and other agencies in the delivery of their humanitarian and development programmes throughout the country. “The ban will significantly impair, if not destroy, the capacity of these NGOs to deliver the essential services on which so many vulnerable Afghans depend. It is all the more distressing with Afghanistan in the grip of winter, when we know humanitarian needs are at their greatest and the work these NGOs do is all the more critical,” Türk said. The High Commissioner also voiced deep concern that increased hardship in Afghan society is likely to increase the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence and domestic violence. “Women and girls cannot be denied their inherent rights. Attempts by the de facto authorities to relegate them to silence and invisibility will not succeed - it will merely harm all Afghans, compound their suffering, and impede the country’s development. Such policies cannot be justified in any way,” Türk said. END”
Care, IRC, UN Women, Afghanistan: Inter-agency Rapid Gender Analysis (November 2022), 22 December 2022 “The main factors and findings noted in the IRGA are: Afghanistan’s literacy rate is estimated at 23 per cent for women – with rural women being less likely to be literate. This can be compared with an average of 52 per cent literacy rate for men. Despite literacy rates for women more than doubling in the past 20 years, they remain some of the lowest in the world. As a result of conflict and displacement, as well as poverty-induced migration, traditional family units have been disrupted, resulting in an increase in the number of households headed by women, older people and, in some cases, children. Restrictions currently in place have impacted women’s access to services across Afghanistan. Access to health services, markets and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) resources for women and girls have long been complex, and dependent on many factors. However, since the de facto authorities (DFA) takeover of state power in 2021, women’s unaccompanied access to health facilities and markets has decreased; while the proportion of those reporting access when accompanied had increased. Service availability and high costs were the primary barriers for women-headed households in accessing basic services, according to the Annual Whole of Afghanistan Assessment (WoAA) for 2022. Compared to 2021, women-headed households face a 10 per cent increase in restrictions to their access to markets, water points and health facilities. Quarterly protection analysis
throughout 2022 also shows that discrimination is one of the main reasons for women being denied access to services. The absence of women staff and restrictions on women humanitarian workers was also noted as a barrier by women looking to access services. This is compounded by difficulties faced by women Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to continue operating, while they often provide a key link between humanitarian actors and affected women and girls. The near collapse of the health system, due to the freezing of International Development Association (IDA) funds, combined with reports from the field of rising rates of early marriage and the related likelihood of early pregnancy, risks increasing the alarmingly high numbers of maternal deaths and infant mortality in country. Approximately 28 per cent of women do not have a tazkira (Afghan national identity card). This impacts their ability to access services where identification is required, including humanitarian assistance and education. Women’s ability to work and earn a livelihood has been disproportionately affected by a combination of pre-existing gender disparities in the labour force, the current economic crisis and new restrictions on women’s employment and movement, with severer impacts for women-headed households. Women are disproportionately affected by these phenomena given their already low participation in the labour market, which hinders their ability to navigate and recover from shocks. In addition, women and girls tend to be more affected by food insecurity, often being the lowest priority in terms of access to food consumption and/or nutrition inside the household. Key sectors of the labour market were negatively impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and have been further devastated by the current food security and economic crisis. These include those sectors employing the
largest percentage of women, such as agriculture, public administration and social services – including teachers and health care workers, many of whom have gone months without wages, due to the liquidity crisis. While there is a general increase in the Afghan population’s feeling of safety due to the cessation of conflict in different parts of the country, 14 per cent of women and 14 per cent of girls reported having experienced a protection incident during the previous 3 months, figures which due to the precarious social standing of many Afghan women and fear of speaking out, are likely to not reflect the full extent of this phenomenon. The IRGA found that the above-mentioned aspects have multiple impacts on the humanitarian response: Increase of restrictions on freedom of movement has meant a drastic reduction in access to services for women and girls. Those from ethnic minority groups, those with mental or physical challenges, and those living in remote areas are particularly affected. Key barriers to participation and accountability in humanitarian action include: limited consultation with women, excluded and under-represented groups in humanitarian assessments; limited awareness and/or use of feedback and complaints mechanisms (particularly among women, people with disabilities and undocumented returnees); exclusion of women and under- represented groups in decision making; lack of diversity among humanitarian staff; restrictions on women aid workers, and marginal space for women’s CSOs to operate. Vulnerable groups tend to be under-represented in assessments, and rarely benefit from targeted programming, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, rural women and girls, widows, youth, and ethnic minority groups. Country-wide assessments struggle to capture the intersectionalities of experience (e.g. an elderly rural woman with disabilities) and various vulnerabilities. Moreover, the specific situation of women and girls living in male-headed households requires additional analysis, as these women are often made invisible when assessments only consider the head of household. Economic hardship and food insecurity affect headed households disproportionately. Negative coping strategies across households include limiting food intake (with women disproportionately affected), increases in child labour and early marriage. Girls’ access to education, already limited under Republic of Afghanistan rule, and further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been further restricted since August 2021, with schooling for girls capped at primary level in most provinces. The longstanding challenge of having an insufficient number of girls’ schools and women teachers, especially in remote areas, has been exacerbated by movement restrictions and teachers’ salaries going unpaid, due to the freeze on public finances.”
UN Women, Statement on Afghanistan, by Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, 21 December 2022
“The comprehensive onslaught on women’s rights in Afghanistan is unmatched in the world today. The Taliban’s latest announcement of the closure of universities for women, effectively banning them from higher education, is yet another blatant curtailment of their fundamental rights. It is as short-sighted as it is appalling. The right to education for all women and girls must be restored immediately. Women have always played a key role in shaping Afghanistan’s development, and in supporting its peace, security and resilience. In the face of incredible challenges, Afghan women have continued to go to university. These institutions were some of the last places where they could come together and continue to learn. To end women’s higher education is to ignore their historical contributions and sever them from their future potential and the potential of their country. As the Secretary-General stated: the denial of education violates the equal rights of women and girls and will have a devastating impact on Afghanistan’s future. It condemns the country to further economic hardship, suffering and international isolation. Without education, a generation of Afghan women and girls will not have the skills they need to fully contribute to the development of their country. Without education, their pathways to participation and leadership are further constrained, leaving them vulnerable to discrimination and gender-based violence. UN Women calls on the de facto authorities to immediately restore the full rights of women and girls, which include the right to education, as well as to work and to participate in public life.”
UNAMA, UN IN AFGHANISTAN CONDEMNS TALIBAN DECISION TO SUSPEND WOMEN FROM UNIVERSITIES AND CALLS FOR ITS IMMEDIATE REVERSAL, 21 December 2022
“The UN family and the entire humanitarian community in Afghanistan share the outrage of millions of Afghans and the international community over the decision by the Taliban de facto authorities to close universities to female students across the country until further notice and calls on the de facto authorities to immediately revoke the
decision. The UN and its humanitarian partners also urge the de facto authorities to reopen girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life. Banning women from attending university is a continuation of the systematic policies of targeted discrimination put in place by the Taliban against women. Since 15 August 2021, the de facto authorities have barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bath houses. These restrictions culminate with the confinement of Afghan women and girls to the four walls of their homes. Preventing half of the population from contributing meaningfully to society and the economy will have a devastating impact on the whole country. It will expose Afghanistan to further international isolation, economic hardship and suffering, impacting millions for years to come. The UN estimates that restricting women from working can result in an economic loss of up to $1 billion – or up to five percent of the country’s GDP. The ban of women from universities, including female teachers and professors, will contribute to additional economic losses. Education is a basic human right. Excluding women and girls from secondary and tertiary education not only denies them this right, it denies Afghan society as a whole the benefit of the contributions that women and girls have to offer. It denies all of Afghanistan a future. The steps taken by the de facto authorities to exclude women and girls from education, the workplace and other areas of life increase risks of forced and underage marriage, violence and abuse. Continued discrimination against more than half the population of the country will stand in the way of Afghanistan achieving an inclusive society where everyone can live in dignity and enjoy equal opportunities. The UN in Afghanistan and its humanitarian partners remind the Taliban that taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of their public and political life is regressive and stands against universal human rights standards upon which peaceful and stable societies are based on. This decision will be a negative factor for Afghans abroad considering to return and force more to flee the country.”
UNSC, Women Literally Being Erased from Public Life in Afghanistan, Speaker Tells Security Council, Sounding Alarm over Country’s Dire Situation, 20 December 2022
“Affirming UNAMA’s commitment to that end, she warned that any positive economic developments might not be sustainable if the real concerns of Afghans, including the ban on girls’ education, lack of health facilities, mental health problems, poverty and economic insecurity, and discrimination against ethnic minorities, are not addressed.”
UNAMA, Briefing to the United Nations Security Council by the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva New York, 20 December 2022
“The suppressing of opposing voices is all the more unfortunate given the increasing harshness of the Taliban’s social policies. We have seen a slew of decrees that are especially harmful to women. Women have been banned as of 9 November from visiting most public parks, bath houses, and gymnasiums. Their social space is now being restricted as much as their political space. The prevention of secondary education will mean that in two years there will be no girls entering into university. This decision is extremely unpopular among Afghans and even within the Taliban leadership. It has been criticized by the entire Islamic world. It has undermined the Taliban’s relationship with the international community. But it remains in force causing damage today that will be felt long into the future. On 13 November the Taliban conveyed that Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhunzada had ordered that judges implement capital and corporal punishments, known as hudūd and qisās, if conditions are met according to Sharia law. UNAMA has documented that these punishments have taken place ever since the Taliban takeover. Since the announcement of the Taliban leader’s instruction, however, they have become increasingly public.”
UNHCR; UN Women, Afghanistan Crisis Update: Women and Girls in Displacement: Factsheet II – September 2022, 18 September 2022
“The total number of Afghan people in displacement increased substantially in 2021. Conflict slightly waned after August 2021, and the last quarter of the year saw lower numbers of internally displaced people. New internal displacements, however, were recorded in April, May and June 2022, largely due to security threats. While some displaced families were able to move as a group, many families separated and are in need of reunification. Sex- disaggregated data on these displacements is only available for those who moved from Panjshir to Dara / Ab Shar
as of 26 April 2022, and among them roughly 19 per cent were adult women, 19 per cent were adult men, and an estimated 53 per cent were children.
The data on people displaced to neighbouring countries in 2022 indicates that men and boys were more likely than women to leave Afghanistan for the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan.
Although most of the new arrivals in these two countries (69 per cent) were registered as nuclear groups, an estimated 10,668 women fled without a male partner to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan in the first half of 2022 alone. Importantly, data show that women rarely fled Afghanistan without children or other dependents (less than 1,000 women fled alone in 2022, compared to 10,464 men). When fleeing the country with children or older dependents, women are more likely to care for more people than men (women brought an average of 4.2 children or adult dependents with them, compared to 3.2 dependents brought by men).
The global cost-of-living crisis is producing significant increases in the prices of basic goods, such as food and fuel.6 This, coupled with Afghanistan’s current economic contraction, asset freeze and banking crisis, has direct repercussions for the purchasing power of women and men, especially for single adults living with dependents. […] Given that an estimated 72 per cent of non-partnered8 Afghan women refugees and asylum-seekers in neighbouring countries live in single adult households with dependents, compared to 9.5 per cent of men, women are more likely to struggle to provide sufficient food and basic goods for their families.
Approximately 800,000 internally displaced persons had returned home as of December 2021. Across most age groups, more men than women returned, which is no surprise given that more men fled in the first place.
However, among people of reproductive age (18 to 49), more women than men returned. Given that, as noted earlier, women are far more likely than men to flee with children, and women bring more dependents than men on average, the economic burden of living in displacement and providing food and shelter for their families may be a reason for disproportionate returns among women age 18 to 49.
Afghan returnees continue to encounter barriers to access basic goods and key services. Surveys of returnees conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 indicate that access to food, clothing and fuel remain among the top priority needs.”
Women’s Refugee Commission, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Mina’s List, Refugees International, and Voice, Statement on the situation of Afghan women and girls, 21 December 2022
“[…] the Taliban banned Afghan women from attending university—effectively ending girls’ educational opportunities after primary school. Today the Women’s Refugee Commission, Alliance for Peacebuilding,
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Mina’s List, Refugees International, and Voice released a statement calling on senior U.S. government leaders to elevate the rights of Afghan women and girls as a matter of political priority. We also urged the U.S. government to mainstream the push for Afghan women’s and girls’ rights across U.S. foreign policy.”
UNHCR, Afghanistan: Protection Analysis Update: Update on post conflict and climate-related protection risks trends, December 2022, 14 December 2022
“Widespread protection risks persist in Afghanistan as a consequence of the continuing humanitarian and economic crisis, as well as due to shrinking protection spaces particularly for women, girls, and other vulnerable groups. The human rights situation has been exacerbated by conflict, forced eviction, bureaucratic access impediments, as well as natural disasters like earthquakes and flooding. This has a devastating effect on population coping capacities and vulnerabilities, which is escalating the impact of existing protection risks. During this quarter, de facto authorities (DfA) continued threatened and actual forced eviction of people living in informal settlements both on public and private land. Moreover, following the armed clashes between Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid, Hazara Commander and DFA forces, more than 3,000 families were displaced from Balkhab district and fled to mountainous areas and neighbouring districts and provinces. By mid-July most of the affected families had returned to their villages, and reportedly the majority were forced to return by the authorities. The limitations on movement of women go far beyond the mere issue of ability to move, and present grave implications for women who are struggling to support their families, especially those women who are breadwinners or the heads of their families. The DfA are increasingly
asserting their control over the provision of humanitarian assistance and using bureaucratic mechanisms to influence humanitarian service provision. This is leading to protection risks for affected population and a worsening complex operating environment for NGOs. The protection risks requiring immediate attention in the period covered by this analysis are: Discrimination and stigmatization, denial of resources, opportunities, services and/or humanitarian assistance Unlawful Impediments or restrictions to freedom of movement and forced displacement/eviction Psychological and inflicted distress Presence of mines and other explosive ordnance Forced and child marriage”
OHCHR, Opening statement by ASG Ilze Brands Kehris on the situation of human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, Opening statement by ASG Ilze Brands Kehris on the situation of human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan | OHCHR, 12 September 2022
“Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, they have repeatedly asserted that women’s rights are protected within the framework of Sharia. Still, the written and verbal edicts and decrees issued by the Taliban have deprived women and girls of their human rights, removed women from most spheres of public life and undone women’s agency.
Girls’ secondary schools remain closed with no clear indication of when or if, girls will be allowed to continue their education. Since the Talibans’ rise to power, an estimated 850,000 girls have effectively dropped out of school, placing many at risk of child marriage and sexual and economic exploitation.
Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where girls are denied secondary education. Considering the vital role of education in the life of children and for society as a whole, the Taliban have not only eliminated girls’ development opportunities and their ability to live independent lives in the future but have also set back the opportunity to ensure that Afghanistan is on the path to an equal, just, peaceful and prosperous country.
Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement also have a detrimental effect on the lives of women and girls. For example, a ban on travel without a close male family member (a mahram) severely hinders women from accessing healthcare, particularly sexual and reproductive health care, livelihood and humanitarian aid, and their ability to seek protection and justice or escape from abusive relationships. Women without male family members have been disproportionately affected. Female civil servants have been directed to stay home and some of them even asked to nominate a male family member to replace them.
Women belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups, including Hazaras, Tajik, Hindu and other communities, have been subjected to particular intimidation, harassment and discrimination owing to historical prejudice and negative stereotyping. Other groups of women, including women with disabilities, women without male family members and young women, are also suffering from inter-sectional discrimination.
Moreover, the Taliban have dissolved human rights oversight mechanisms, such as the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and dismantled the specialized courts for gender-based violence and victim support services. Female lawyers’ licenses have been revoked. While gender-based violence and discrimination against women has been chronic, women have nowhere to go to seek justice and redress in today’s Afghanistan. They also face considerable challenges to legal representation and defence before the courts.
Furthermore, with the rapid closing of public spaces for women to express their opinions freely and without fear of reprisals, the role of women journalists and women human rights defenders have become even more crucial. They have courageously continued to carry out their work both inside and outside the country – speaking up and reporting on the institutionalized and widespread oppression of women and girls by the Taliban.
We are appalled by reports of attacks against women journalists and human rights defenders to silence their voices, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance and killings. We are not aware of any investigations being initiated on such cases, and no one responsible for such crimes have been brought to justice”.
OHCHR, Human Rights Council Discusses Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, with a Focus on the Situation of Women and Girls, Human Rights Council Discusses Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, with a Focus on the Situation of Women and Girls | OHCHR , 12 September 2022
“Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said since the mandate was
established almost a year ago, the human rights situation had deteriorated. Afghans were trapped in a human
rights crisis that the world seemed powerless to address. The severe rollback of the rights of women and girls, reprisals targeting opponents and critics, and a clampdown on freedom of expression by the Taliban amounted to a descent into authoritarianism”.
“One year after the Taliban’s military takeover […] Girls were still barred from secondary schools. Women were deprived of safety, freedom and fulfilment. Minorities were persecuted, subject to widespread and systematic attacks. Torture, ill-treatment, mass punishment, arbitrary detentions and forced displacement continued to be carried out.”
Human Rights Watch, Futures In The Balance: Taking Action To Ensure Afghan Women's & Girls' Rights Under Taliban Rule, 17 August 2022
“Severe food insecurity, an economic crisis, human rights abuses targeting women and girls, and overt gender discrimination have brought Afghanistan to the brink of humanitarian collapse and eroded decades of progress towards development and gender equality.”
Human Rights Watch, Joint UK Parliamentary Briefing on Afghanistan, 17 August 2022
“Taliban authorities have harassed and detained human rights defenders, women’s rights activists, journalists, and female protesters who peacefully demanded their right to work and other freedoms; summarily executed or forcibly disappeared more than a hundred people associated with the former government; tortured people in custody; and increasingly censored or imposed wide-ranging restrictions on the media and free speech.”
“The Taliban have imposed an array of policies violating virtually every aspect of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. They dismissed all women from leadership posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from attending secondary school. In March, they extended their earlier ban on girls’ secondary education, striking a devastating blow to millions of girls and their families. Taliban decrees prohibit women from traveling unless accompanied by a male relative and require women’s faces be covered in public—including women TV newscasters.”
“The Afghan economy collapsed after August 2021, as millions of people lost salaries when the US, World Bank, and other donors stripped the Central Bank of Afghanistan of its foreign assets and access to financial assistance. Afghanistan now faces a severe humanitariango crisis. About 95 percent of Afghan households are facing acute food insecurity—the result of an economic meltdown set off by widespread lost income, cash shortages, and rising food costs, along with a lack of medicine and a rise in malnutrition-related disease. Afghan children are starving to death nearly every day, humanitarian organisations reported in January.”
Qantara, One year of Taliban Rule: How life has changed for Afghans, 17 August 2022
“The Taliban have not fulfilled most of their promises under the 2020 Doha agreement. They have been reluctant to form an inclusive government in the country, while girls above grade 6 are not allowed to go to school. Also, women are not permitted to work in most sectors and they can only visit public parks on specific days.”
BBC News, Taliban break up rare protest by Afghan women in Kabul, 14 August 2022
“Since the Taliban takeover, women rights' have been severely restricted… In the year since the Taliban returned to power, they have issued various orders restricting the freedom of women - barring them from most government jobs, secondary education and from travelling more than 45 miles (70km) without a male guardian. In May, the militants decreed that Afghan women will have to wear the Islamic face veil for the first time in decades. If a woman refuses to comply, her male guardians could be sent to jail for three days - although this is not always enforced. There have been minor sporadic protests over the past year, but any form of dissent is being crushed.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that officially limits education by gender - a major sticking point in the Taliban's attempts to gain international legitimacy. Girls have been banned from receiving secondary education, the ministry for women's affairs has been disbanded, and in many cases women have not been allowed to work.”
List of Taliban Policies Violating Women’s Rights in Afghanistan by Heather Barr dated 29 September 2021 [Note that these are presented in Tweets]
The National News, Life under Taliban cages Afghan women and girls, former human rights chief says, 3 August 2022
“The futures of millions of Afghan women have been stolen by repressive Taliban policies, resulting in a mental health crisis, the former head of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission has said.”
“In the year since the extremist group took over Afghanistan it has imposed movement restrictions, draconian
dress codes and effective education bans on women and girls.”
“The hardline rulers have banned girls from joining secondary schools in almost all provinces.”
The Khaama Press News Agency, U.S. Senators Urge UN to Take ‘Meaningful Actions’ in Defense of Afghans Rights, 29 July 2022
“At least four American senators voiced their concerns over human rights violations in Afghanistan in a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, saying “we must not stand by as the Taliban seeks to erase the human rights of Afghan women and girls.””
““The United Nations has an opportunity to take meaningful actions that will send a clear, unequivocal message to the world that its member nations will defend the human rights of Afghans, particularly women and girls,” the letter reads, as TOLOnews quoted.”
“Emphasizing on the ever-increasing restrictions and ongoing violation of human rights by the Taliban leadership, these senators urged the United Nations to exclude Taliban of any seat at the United Nations.”