Treatment of women by the Taliban

Women wearing burqas at a market in Kabul in September 2021, one month after the Taliban seized control for the second time.

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.[1][2] In 1996, women were mandated to wear the burqa at all times in public.[3][4] 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.[5][6] 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.[7]: 12, 31–32 [8]

After taking over Afghanistan for the second time in 2021, the Taliban initially granted women permission to attend universities, albeit in gender segregated classrooms, under the condition that they followed "Islamic standards."[9] However, they restricted access to education for teenage girls by allowing only boys to resume schooling. Additionally, they prohibited women in Afghanistan from working in most sectors beyond health and education.[10][11][12] Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls, despite the nation-wide ban.[13][14] Women were mandated to wear face coverings in public, and barred from travelling more than 45 miles (70 km) without a close male relative. In 2022, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's reclusive leader, rejected international criticism and demands for easing human rights restrictions, refusing any negotiations or compromises on the Taliban's "Islamic system" of governance. [15][16][17] The Taliban extended the ban on university education for women and barred them from working in NGOs.[18][19] Within two years after seizing Afghanistan for the second time, the Taliban shut down beauty salons and banned women from accessing gyms and parks.[20] According to the United Nations (UN), the treatment of women by Taliban may amount to gender apartheid.[21]

  1. ^ Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1998). "Afghan Women under the Taliban". In Maley, William (ed.). Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban. New York: New York University Press. pp. 145–166. ISBN 0-8147-5585-2.
  2. ^ Marsden, Peter (1998). "The gender policies of the Taliban". The Taliban: War, Religion and the New Order in Afghanistan. London: Zed Books. pp. 88–101. ISBN 1-85649-522-1.
  3. ^ Gohari, M. J. (1999). "Women and the Taliban Rule". The Taliban: Ascent to Power. Karachi: Oxford University Press. pp. 108–110. ISBN 0-19-579560-1.
  4. ^ Franks, Mary Anne (2003). "Obscene Undersides: Women and Evil between the Taliban and the United States". Hypatia. 18 (1): 139–140. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2003.tb00783.x. ISSN 0887-5367. JSTOR 3811041. S2CID 145761320.
  5. ^ Synovitz, Ron (31 March 2004). "Afghanistan: Author Awaits Happy Ending To 'Sewing Circles Of Herat'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 8 July 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ Lamb, Christina (13 November 2005). "Woman poet 'slain for her verse'". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  7. ^ The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan (PDF). Physicians for Human Rights. 1998. ISBN 1-879707-25-X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  8. ^ "100 Girls' Schools in Afghan Capital Are Ordered Shut". The New York Times. 17 June 1998. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  9. ^ Loh, Matthew (29 August 2021). "Taliban rep says Afghan women can attend university, but mixed classes will be banned". Insider. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Afghanistan: Taliban confirm secondary school ban for girls". Newsround. CBBC. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  11. ^ Hadid, Diaa (20 December 2022). "'The Taliban took our last hope': College education is banned for women in Afghanistan". NPR. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  12. ^ Trofimov, Yaroslav (15 August 2021). "Afghanistan Government Collapses as Taliban Take Kabul". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Afghanistan: Six provinces keep schools open for girls despite nationwide ban". AmuTV. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  14. ^ Neda Safi, Tooba (17 February 2023). "Girls return to high school in some regions of Afghanistan". Geneva Solutions. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  15. ^ "'It's our system': Taliban leader hits out at foreign demands on Afghan regime". The Guardian. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  16. ^ Gul, Ayaz (1 July 2022). "Taliban Chief Slams Foreign 'Interference' in His 'Islamic' Governance". VOA News. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Taliban supreme leader addresses major gathering in Kabul". Al Jazeera. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ "Taliban prohibit university educations for Afghan women in latest revocation of rights". France 24. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  20. ^ Yong, Nicholas (4 July 2023). "Taliban order Afghanistan's hair and beauty salons to shut". BBC. SIngapore. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  21. ^ "Experts: Taliban treatment of women may be "gender apartheid"". United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 11 July 2023. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.