By: Arif Wafayee
Translated by: Mohammad Sakhi Rezaie
Taliban has continuously isolated Afghans, especially the Afghan women after they seized power in August 2021. Taliban dissolved Ministry of Women Affairs and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the two institutions supporting women rights in the country, and formed institutions as Ordering to good and preventing from the vice to limit the citizens’ basic rights in the country.
Taliban excluded women from all social life after August 2021
When Taliban seized power in 2021, they announced Afghan women enjoy all their rights and only hejab would be added to their rights. But after two weeks, they announced women are not allowed to do sports and they announced after one month that women are not allowed to work in public office except in health sector.
School ban on girls above 6 grade and banning women work in public office caused wide spread demonstrations against Taliban across Afghanistan major cities. Afghan women in Kabul, Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar cities pressed Taliban for women participation in political decision making processes. On 30 September 2021, Taliban announced women are not allowed to demonstrate. Women protests in an environment full of torture and killings, is the only voice for freedom of Afghans and on the other hand Taliban are afraid of it. As a result, Taliban have continuously issued verdicts to sideline women from public office, NGOs and public sphere.
Taliban limited women education on Mezan,13. It included separation of girls’ classes, forcing women to wear a hejab, and preventing women from certain fields of education.
Taliban banned series with women role on Afghanistan public and private TV channels. Before the edict, role of women had dramatically decreased in local media, and they had brought many changes in their policies including supporting the Taliban policies, reducing broadcasting foreign series and stopping recreational programs.
On January 1, 2021, Taliban banned women accompanying the patients in hospitals. According to the decree women were not allowed to visit hospitals without their guardians or take their patients to the hospitals. As another restrictive move on women, Taliban announced on 26 December, 2021, all urban transportation should only provide transition service to those women observing Islamic hejab. In addition to this, Taliban ordered all transportation companies and drivers that they are not allowed to provide transportation service for women without their guardians for long travels and provincial travels.
On March 27, 2022, Taliban banned air travel without a mail guardian on women. At the same time schools were suspended girls. Though primary schools were open on girls from first to six grades at the beginning of the educational year in Afghanistan in some provinces but they issued a suspension edict banning all schools on girls.
On April 27, 2022, Taliban announced women should wear burqa while they already had issued a verdict forcing women to wear a hejab in markets, hospitals and community. After two weeks, they announced On June 2022, that women shall not be allowed to government offices.
Although girls schools were closed, national entrance exam was conducted with one year delay on 13 October 2022. According to the Ministry of Higher Education, about 150,000 participated in the entrance exam and about 115 people were admitted to public universities. As it was expected, girls face new restrictions in the national entrance exam as they only could study in certain fields of education. And they were not allowed to study journalism, agriculture, livestock, engineering and economics.
On November 10, 2022, Taliban announced women were not allowed to public parks; public parks were the only place women could get together after Taliban banned schools, universities and public office on women.
On November 10, 2022, Taliban issued a verdict banning women from higher education. And following it, they announced women were not allowed to work in local and international NGOs. Taliban by issuing this verdict completed their restrictive measures on women as they already had suspended girls schools, universities, women work and women presence in the public. Now, they should be imprisoned in the four walls of home. Taliban could isolate women and exclude the from the social life, contrary to the wide condemnations by the UN, Islamic Conference Organization, Women advocacy organizations, human rights organizations, and opposition of the international community and the Islamic world.
After Taliban seized power in August 2021, women challenged them by staging protests and demonstrations and changed to the only active civil movement against the Taliban policies. As a result, Taliban have taken different restrictive measures to sideline women from political, social and economic activities. To do this, Taliban have continuously limited women basic human rights; right to education, work, right to protest, freedom of speech, and even limited women presence in the public sphere and as a result they could exclude women in one year half from most parts of the social life.
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