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The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.
The treatment of women by the Taliban refers to actions and policies by two distinct Taliban regimes in Afghanistan which are either specific or highly commented upon, mostly due to discrimination, since they first took control in 1996. During their first rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban were notorious internationally for their misogyny and violence against women. In 1996, women were mandated to wear the burqa at all times in public. In a systematic segregation sometimes referred to as gender apartheid, women were not allowed to work, nor were they allowed to be educated after the age of eight. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public flogging and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.
Dr. Massouda Jalal is the first woman in the history of Afghanistan who ran for the Office of the President of Afghanistan in 2002, 2004, and again in 2019. Dr. Jalal emerged as a leading voice of Afghan women after her election as the Representative to the 2002 Loya Jirga as she became one of the frontrunners for the position of Interim President of Afghanistan, opposite to ex-president Hamid Karzai.
Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education, which is under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in Afghanistan. The nation still requires more schools and teachers. Soon after the Taliban take took the country in August 2021, they banned girls from secondary education. Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls despite the ban. In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education for females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation. In December 2023, investigations were being held by the United Nations into the claim that Afghan girls of all ages were allowed to study at religious schools. As of November 2024, some parts of the country allow women to attend religious schools to pursue dentistry, nursing, and other subjects.
Human rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime are severely restricted and considered among the worst in the world. Women's rights and freedom are severely restricted, as they are banned from most public spaces and employment. Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban education for women over the age of eleven. Taliban's policies towards women are usually termed as gender apartheid. Minority groups such as Hazaras face persecution and eviction from their lands. Authorities have used physical violence, raids, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances of activists and political opponents.
Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban gradually imposed restrictions on women's freedom of movement, education, and employment. Women are banned from studying in secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country to prohibit females from studying beyond the sixth grade. Women are not allowed in parks, gyms, or beauty salons. They are forbidden from going outside for a walk or exercise, from speaking or showing any part of their face or body outside the home, or even from singing or reading from within their own homes if they could be heard by strangers outside. In extreme cases, women have reportedly been subjected to gang-rape and torture in Taliban prisons.
The Hazaras have long been the subject of persecution in Afghanistan, including enslavement during the 19th century and ethnic and religious persecution for hundreds of years. In the 20th and 21st centuries, they have also been the victims of massacres committed by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Hazaras have been systemically killed and discriminated against socially, economically, and culturally with specific intent, argued by some to constitute genocide. The Hazaras primarily come from the central regions of Afghanistan, known as Hazarajat. Significant communities of Hazara people also live in Quetta, Pakistan and in Mashad, Iran, as part of the Hazara and Afghan diasporas.
Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan politician, writer, and women's rights activist. Originally from Badakhshan province and ethnically Tajik, Koofi was recently a member of the Afghan delegation negotiating peace with the Taliban in Doha Qatar. She is an ex Member of Parliament in Kabul and was the Vice President of the National Assembly.
Homeira Qaderi born in 1980 is an Afghan writer, advocate for women's rights, and professor of Persian literature, currently serving as a Robert G. James Scholar Fellow at Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Research, Harvard University.
Roya Rahmani is an Afghan diplomat who served as Afghanistan's first female ambassador to the United States and non-resident ambassador to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic from December 2018 to July 2021. She is currently the Chair of the international advisory company in development finance — Delphos International LTD. She is also a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, and a senior fellow for international security at the New America Foundation. From 2016 to 2018, she served as Afghanistan's first female ambassador to Indonesia, first ever ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and non-resident ambassador to Singapore.
Farahnaz Forotan is an Afghan journalist and women's rights activist. She moved to Iran together with her family during the Mujahideen regime. Farahnaz returned to Afghanistan in 2001, but took refuge in France in 2020 after being included on a Taliban's target list.
On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
Protests in Afghanistan held by Islamic democrats and feminists against the treatment of women by the Taliban began on 17 August 2021, following the fall of Kabul. Supported by the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, the protesters also demanded decentralization, multiculturalism, social justice, labor, education, and food. Pro-Taliban counterprotests also took place.
Crystal Bayat is an Afghan social activist and human rights advocate known for her protests against the Taliban takeover, advocacy for women rights and political activism inside and outside Afghanistan. A native of the Ghazni province, Shia (coming from the Bayat family, a Turkic ethnicity minority, Bayat was born in 1997 in Kabul. She grew up most of her life with democracy and positive societal changes. She is currently continuing the fight to preserve Afghan human right's achievements as an agent of change.
Dr. Faizullah Jalal was born on 22 May 1963 in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Being a first generation college and high-school student, he served as a law and political science professor at the Kabul University for more than 35 years. He also served as head of the Department of Law and Political Science for 14 years, as the Vice-Chancellor of the Kabul University, and as Deputy Minister for Academic Affairs in the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan. Professor Jalal has a bachelor's degree in Law and Political Science from Kabul University and a master's and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Tajik National University. He is the author of several published books and a variety of articles. His recent books include (1) Political Power and Nation-Building in Afghanistan, (2) The Face of International Terrorism, and (3) An Inquiry into Violence Against Women in Afghanistan.
Ismail Mashal is an Afghan educator and former journalist who received international press attention in 2022 due to his public criticisms of the Taliban's decision to ban education for women and girls, which led to him being imprisoned in February 2023.
Razia Barakzai is an Afghan women's rights activist. She was named one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2021 for leading the first women's protests against the Taliban in August 2021, following their takeover of Afghanistan earlier that month.
Wahida Amiri is an Afghan librarian and women's rights activist. She was featured in the BBC 100 Women 2021 for her continued efforts protesting against the Taliban and their ban on women's education and right to work.
Aisha Khurram, daughter of Karim Khurram, is an Afghan-born human right activists, particularly advocating for women's rights in Afghanistan.
Nayera Kohistani is an Afghan women's rights activist. She lived through the first Taliban rule in her country. She was a protestor when they came to power again. She left the country in 2022 after being imprisoned and she is a prominent protestor against the "gender apartheid" and criminalisation of gender in Afghanistan.
References
- 1 2 "Afghan Man Fights for Women's Education". VOA News . 21 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- 1 2 Ahuja, Namrata Biji (20 Aug 2021). "An Afghan NGO is determined to educate girls despite Taliban's return". The Week (Indian magazine) . Archived from the original on 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ↑ McCarthy, Joe (10 Jan 2018). "His School Was Burned Down. Now He's Bringing Education to Thousands of Girls in Afghanistan". Global Citizen (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- 1 2 Qazi, Shereena (23 Mar 2017). "1,100 Afghan children a day 'to drop out of school'". Al Jazeera . Archived from the original on 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- 1 2 "Afghanistan: Girls' education activist arrested by Taliban". BBC News. 2023-03-28. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- 1 2 Kaker, Shafi; Ala, Hande Atay; Regan, Helen (2023-03-29). "Taliban arrests prominent girls' education activist as repressive clampdown continues". CNN . Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ↑ Kumar, Ruchi; Graham-Harrison, Emma (2023-03-28). "Founder of Afghan girls' school project arrested in Kabul". The Guardian . ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ↑ "Afghan girls rights activist Matiullah Wesa released by Taliban". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
