International Desk: The Taliban has imposed the most restrictions on women since taking power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. Overall, the Taliban is trying to curtail women’s mobility and role in four areas: removing women from politics, limiting their movement in public, banning education, and limiting employment opportunities.
They promised more flexibility on girls after taking power, but did not follow through.After the overthrow of the first Taliban government in 2001, the governments of Hamid Karzai and later Ashraf Ghani have taken various steps to increase the role of women in politics.
Women entered parliament. got a place in the cabinet. They were sent as ambassadors. Later, women were even appointed as state governors and heads of various government institutions. After the Taliban took power in August 2021, the rest of the world watched anxiously to see whether this Taliban would be different from the previous ones. Have they changed?
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a senior official at the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, told the BBC in an interview the day after the last group of American troops left Kabul airport on August 30, “There is no doubt that women will have a role in the government, but I cannot say whether they will be appointed to any senior positions.”
But the cabinet that the Taliban formed a week later did not include a single woman. More than 20 written and verbal directives were issued during this time imposing restrictions on women’s lifestyles. Also, such restrictions are being imposed arbitrarily.
Since the Taliban took power, Afghan women have been protesting the restrictions imposed on them. Women were beaten in many protests. Many are held in prison for long periods. On September 7, 2021, three women were killed and seven others injured when the Taliban opened fire on one such woman’s protest in Herat.
The following day, a directive from the Taliban’s interior ministry issued strict restrictions on protests. We are informed that prior permission must be obtained for any demonstration. But that day, many women protested in Kabul.
Taliban security forces dispersed them with batons. Such incidents have happened many times and in many places. Within a month of taking power, the Taliban ordered women working in government institutions to stay at home instead of coming to the office.
On September 19th of that year, female employees of the Kabul municipality were informed that only those who could not come to the office could do their jobs. Now women workers in almost all government offices and ministries are sitting at home. They go to the office only once a month to collect their salary.
In June 2022, female officials in the Afghan civil service called on the Taliban to allow them to join the workforce. But a month later, the Afghan Ministry of Finance informed their female workers that they would have to stay at home and that a male member of Barajo’s family could go to the office and work in their place.
Not only government employees but also female members of the Afghan army and police lost their jobs. Even female judges lose their jobs. The Taliban are strongly opposed to any kind of music. As a result, students of the Afghan National Institute of Music stopped attending classes soon after they took power. The facility is now locked.
Members of the Zohra Orchestra, Afghanistan’s first and only female music group, fled to Portugal. Since the Taliban regained power, Afghan women have been unable to participate in any form of sport. because there is an unwritten ban on women’s sports.
On September 8, 2021, the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Taliban government, Ahmadullah Wasik, said that the participation of girls in sports is not only inappropriate but also unnecessary. Because according to him, it is not possible for girls to cover their body and face while playing sports, so it is against Sharia.
The Taliban minister said that girls will be allowed to play only when a safe environment can be ensured for them. But even after 17 months, Afghan women are not able to participate in any sports competitions in the country or abroad.
In December 2022, the International Olympic Committee warned Afghanistan that ties would be severed if it did not allow female athletes to compete. But that didn’t work either. Within a month of taking power, the Taliban ordered private universities to separate their male and female students.
On September 12, 2021, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education told the BBC that the same policy would be followed at public universities. In the beginning, the male and female students were seated on either side of the classroom, and a curtain was hung in the middle. Later, the classrooms were segregated.
After that, separate days are fixed for male and female students. To eliminate women from politics, the Taliban abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Taliban officials initially denied the disbandment in an interview with the BBC.
But after a few days, on September 17, the name of the ministry was changed. In that building, the newly built office of the Ministry of Ethics Promotion and Prevention of Immorality is now there. A press release from the Ministry of Education on September 17, 2021, asked only male teachers and students to return to school.
