The United Nations said in grim assessments on International Women’s Day that since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the country has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, deprived of virtually all their basic rights.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the U.N. Mission said in a statement Thursday that Afghanistan’s new rulers have shown an almost “singular focus on imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes.”
Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban have reportedly imposed harsh measures since seizing power as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from Afghanistan after two decades of war.
Girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade and women are barred from working, studying, traveling without a male companion, and even going to parks or bath houses. Women must also cover themselves from head to toe and are barred from working at national and international non-governmental organizations, disrupting the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights,” Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
"Confining half of the country's population to their homes in one of the world's largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm," she added, renewing her call on the Taliban to halt and reverse the "harsh restrictions."
Otunbayeva warned that the crackdown on women's rights would damage Afghanistan's prospects of recovering from decades of war and condemn all its citizens to poverty for generations. "It will further isolate Afghanistan from its citizens and the rest of the world," the U.N. envoy said, according to the Voice of America (VOA).
The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from the country after two decades of war.
The hardline de facto leaders have since implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring most Afghan women from workplaces and banning female education beyond grade six in the impoverished South Asian nation of about 40 million people.
"The time has come for the United Nations to take a decisive and serious decision concerning the fate of the [Afghan] people," one of the protesters at the Kabul rally read from a statement, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, TOLOnews reported yesterday evening that women held a protest in Kabul on International Women’s Day, calling for women’s access to education and work. The protestors reportedly called for the removal of restrictions imposed women in Afghanistan.
“It is March 8 but women in Afghanistan have no rights to celebrate this day. We are the women who are imprisoned in the country. The restrictions are worsened day-by-day,” said Jolia Parsa, a member of Junbish Itlaf Khodjosh Zanan was cited as saying.
“We want to be provided with our rights to work as in many other countries around the world. We should be able to work in the government and non-government organizations,” said Sufia Arifi, a member of Junbish Itlaf Khodjosh Zanan, according to TOLOnews.
The female protestors reportedly issued a statement saying the current challenges against women should not be forgotten.
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that they are committed to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and that their rights are preserved within Islamic laws.
