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In this article, Melanie discusses the treatment and human rights violations against Afghan women.
The Lesson Unlearned: Women's Rights in Afghanistan
The Lesson Unlearned: Women's Rights in Afghanistan
By: Melanie Campbell
By: Melanie Campbell
On Aug. 15, 2021, the Taliban, a group of extremist men educated in a strict and archaic version of Islam, took over Afghanistan. Since then, the Taliban has continued its relentless attacks on the rights of women and girls. Women have faced challenging attacks on their rights to education, expression, and personal identity, in other words, stripping them of their human dignity.
Women in Afghanistan had once enjoyed marginal equality. According to the U.S. State Department (2001-2009), prior to the Taliban's control, women once made up 15 percent of the legislative body, 40 percent of doctors, 50 percent of government workers and university students, and 70 percent of school teachers. The country had increasingly provided more equality for women, that is, until the Taliban began destroying these basic rights.
The Taliban immediately began destroying these hard-earned rights in late Aug. 2021, when they banned co-education and prohibited men from teaching girls. According to the United States Institute of Peace, shortly afterward, they banned women from post-secondary education and universities. This was a cruel attack on young women's right to an education, a lesson that one may think the Taliban would have learned a decade ago with the widespread support of Malala Yousafai. The Taliban's leadership also led to the dismissal of all female university staff, reintroducing the public stoning of women for “adultery,” and the closing of career options for Afghan women.
Image from UN News
A new era of gender apartheid has emerged in Afghanistan. Women are now forced to comply with specific female-only hours at certain parks and recreational areas but are outright banned in others. It is considered a father's and a brother's responsibility to keep women from showing themselves or being “indecent”. Cafes and restaurants cannot serve women without a male chaperone, or mahram. Women are also forbidden from traveling or leaving the house without a mahram, and are not allowed to speak to an unrelated male without one. Do these men ever get tired of babysitting competent adult women?
Afghan women protesting. Image from Afghan Analysis Network.
The Taliban does not want women to leave their homes unnecessarily. Women are expected to stay home and tend to children, the only role the Taliban believes they are fit for. Women were quickly banned from college majors like Economics and Journalism, with the Taliban leader claiming they were too difficult for women. Women, who have the potential to become legal students, doctors, and politicians, are now confined to their homes because of what men think they are capable of. This destruction of basic human rights is inhumane and barbaric. They believe that because women are more nurturing, that is all they are capable of, and they need to be confined and protected in their homes. They cannot even find comfort and unity in the media, as women are now banned from television dramas, and female presenters on the news must be covered in a burka.
Furthermore, female healthcare is disturbingly limited for Afghan women. They are forbidden from being treated by men, and with women barred from studying at universities, they only receive care in small, segregated sections of hospitals for women. In terms of education, young women above sixth grade have been expelled and banned from learning in private courses.
Another appalling restriction is the legal enforcement of hijabs. According to the United States Institute of Peace, women must wear a burka that covers them from head to toe. The common saying goes, “Children should be seen, not heard,” but when it comes to young girls, the Taliban does not want either, as women must be covered from head to toe and are often punished for talking or even being heard in public. The windows of women's homes have been painted black, and the Taliban has banned many women's organizations and support groups. Horrific crimes of femicide and domestic violence frequently occur with impunity in Afghanistan.
Afghan women in burkas. Image from NBC News
According to the Human Rights Watch website, many women and men have faced unjust imprisonment and torture for bringing attention to the Taliban's abuses of their rights. The United Nations has stated that the level of rights violations against Afghan women may even amount to crimes against humanity, according to United Nations officials in Geneva. These egregious rights violations and new edicts directed at women have reversed 20 years of progress toward women's rights, reverting them to the equality they held pre-2002. The most tragic aspect of this mistreatment is that they cannot protest against it, as the Taliban has banned any unapproved demonstrations
This infringement on basic humanity is unacceptably justified with religion, but these decisions and orders are not about Islam. Plenty of Islamic men and women stand staunchly supporting these women, arguing that this mistreatment of women goes against the fundamental teachings of Islam. Both religious and secular ideas of empathy lead to the conclusion that this is unacceptably callous. As the situation continues to deteriorate, the international community must take action and support Afghan women in their fight for basic rights and freedoms. Awareness and advocacy can help amplify their voices and bring attention to the enormous injustices they face daily. The strength of Afghan women should not be forgotten, and their struggle for equality must be at the forefront of global discussions of human rights.
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