VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN | ASIA | ADVOCACY & POLICY | CULTURE
Hear Their Voices
OpEd: Afghan Women vs Taliban
WORDS BY LARA GIBBS | LARA@THEIWI.ORG | 11 OCTOBER 2024
On August 21, 2024, the Taliban enforced new restrictions against women in Afghanistan. Thirty-five articles have been enforced under the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Under these laws, women must completely veil their faces and bodies. They must not be heard reading out loud, or singing, as their voices are considered intimate. As a result, women’s participation in Afghan society has been further restricted. Afghan women’s voices are being silenced under the militant thumb of Taliban, as their exclusion from society deepens. Activists have highlighted concerns for women’s mental health under such restrictions.
The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. At that time, they claimed to have adopted a more moderate approach compared with their previous rule. However, many organisations and groups that had been set up to protect Afghan women’s rights have since been dismantled. For example, the Women’s Affairs Ministry building, which is now being used by the Ministry for Preaching and Guidance and the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
According to research, when the Taliban first came to power in 1996, women’s employment rate in Kabul dropped from 62% to 20%. It seems that history is repeating itself as the International Labour Organisation has reported that women’s employment fell by 25% in 2022, compared to before they took over. Moreover, girls over 12 years old have been barred from attending schools and universities. The UN has estimated that 1.4 million girls are being deprived of an education. The mental health impact from this law must not be underestimated, with women even opting to take their own lives to escape their circumstances.
Young women have also been prevented from travelling abroad to study. As a result, in the future, they will not be able to qualify for many professions, further excluding them from the workforce. This in turn will place greater strain and pressure on sectors like the health services, for example, if women are unable to qualify as healthcare professionals.
Afghan women have been fighting back. Previously the Taliban cracked down on peaceful protests by women against their restrictions. Many women were detained and subject to violence. Women have faced violent punishment, including public flogging, for not obeying the stringent restrictions placed on them. Despite these dangers, in defiance of the Taliban, Afghan women both in Afghanistan and living abroad have begun posting videos of themselves singing online. It is the responsibility of the international community to continue uplifting the voices and stories of Afghan women.