a-timeline-of-taliban-s-systemic-oppression-of-women

Afghan women feared this day would come. Ever since the Taliban formed one of the most regressive governments in 2021, it has been gradually stripping women of all basic human rights, one by one.

 

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, it soon held its first-ever press conference, perhaps attempting to clean up the image and reputation of the Islamic fundamentalist group.

 

In April '21, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, said, “Rights of women would be respected within the framework of Islamic law.”

 

A statement dismissed by women’s rights activists in the country and across the world as mere lip service and in contradiction to the ground realities.

 

Women’s worst fears confirmed

 

Fast forward to three years later, and Zabihullah Mujahid is defending the latest set of Taliban rules imposed on women, which include not only a ban on bare faces in public but even a ban on the sound of female voices in public.

 

“We urge a thorough understanding of these laws and a respectful acknowledgement of Islamic values. To reject these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance,” he said at the beginning of last week, in response to the United Nations raising its concerns against the newest set of restrictions imposed on women.

 

Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, had expressed her views on how the laws provided a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future. She also said that the laws were an extension of already intolerable restrictions on the rights of women and girls.

 

Rules in contradiction to human dignity?

 

The newly ratified “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” has been signed by the Taliban leader and spans 114 pages containing 35 articles that impose crushing restrictions on women.

 

They can’t bare their faces, can’t speak in public, and can’t read a book; these are some of the restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban rulers, who claim they have been imposed to discourage vice and promote virtue.

 

The restrictions also include a ban on images of living beings, such as photographs. That is not all. Sensing criticism from many quarters of the world, the Taliban banned questions on women’s education ahead of any media interaction.

 

Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, said that questions to do with women’s education were “suspended until further notice.” He also said that those lacking religious authority or knowledge should refrain from giving opinions on the matter. “We have demonstrated that our decrees are in full accordance with Islam and Sharia law. Taliban’s policies on women’s education are not in conflict with Islamic law and Afghan traditions.”

 

The oppression has been increasing consistently

 

Afghan women knew this day would come, as did activists across the world. On returning to power in 2021, the Taliban formed one of the most regressive governments ever. It started with imposing strict rules on women and restrictions on employment. The diktats got worse in the final weeks of 2022 with a pair of heavy-handed rulings banning access to higher education, universities, and working for NGOs.

 

What is the way out, if there is?

For now, the Taliban remains unrelenting in its autocratic decision. In response to the UNAMA, Mujahid said, “We must stress that the concerns raised by various parties will not sway the Islamic Emirate from its commitment to upholding and enforcing Islamic law.” Collective public pressure, sanctions, and political uproar and ruckus remain the only plausible way forward.

 

In one of the rare displays of criticism against Afghanistan’s rulers, the Japanese Embassy in Kabul took to its official X account to express deep concerns regarding the violations of women’s rights.

 

“We would keep urging authorities to listen to the voice of Afghan women and girls for education, employment, and freedom of movement for the future of the country.” Actress and refugee advocate Angelina Jolie minced no words in criticising the Taliban over new rules. “A regime that criminalises a woman’s gaze, voice, and power is cowardly and oppressive.”

 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the laws “100 pages of hatred against women.”

 

Defying laws and denouncing them seems to be one of the few ways forward. Habib Khan, founder of Afghan Peace Watch, has been bringing forth stories of women in Afghanistan, one singing on the streets, another spray-painting on walls to spread a powerful message, and yet another giving a piano performance (since music is illegal).

 

Nilofar Ayoubi, another Afghan activist, said during a broadcast media interaction, “With the current law codified, it is the final nail in the coffin of women in Afghanistan, unfortunately. These women are confined within four walls, and literally it’s like burying these women alive inside brick walls…” She said there is a lot that the international community can do. 

 

“I think the first basic step and thing that the international community can take is to recognise and codify the term gender so we can take these criminals to the court. And the second thing is that all the leverage that you’re seeing that the Taliban has is because the international community handed it over to them, sending millions weekly, sending delegations after each decree issued by Taliban leaders against women. They take away rights of women, and the next week you would see a EU delegation visiting them. So how are you supposed to put pressure on such a group which upholds no value at all? And then at the end, it’s the women of Afghanistan who are paying the price. Women of Afghanistan will remember who betrayed them in the end," Ayoubi said. 

"So this is quite a dangerous and fragile situation for the women of Afghanistan. And the more time the international community takes to take action, the worse it’s going to get,” she condemned.