Women have been highly vulnerable in Afghanistan and their rights and freedoms were debated within all political administrations. In the two decades of the republic government, women played crucial role in social, political, and economic spheres. Their representatives engaged in the Doha talks, held between the United States and the Taliban leadership. But the human rights of women were neither discussed nor included in the Doha agreement.
Although three female political figures, represented Afghan women in Doha, assured that the rights and liberties of women would be their red-line in the negotiations, women were marginalized from public life after the Kabul’s takeover. In September 2021, The Taliban put an end to the Ministry of Women, replacing it with the ministry of moral police. Subsequently, women’s secondary education and employment were forbidden. More restrictions were imposed on women’s activities and dress code.
Women’s marginalization prompted a number of women’s rights activists, journalists, and members of the civil society to raise their voices against the restrictions. Their protests seem to bear the desired result at international level. For example, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrant for two top Taliban leaders, in July, on charges of abuses against girls and women. This move below a harm to the Taliban’s reputation and was intended to put pressure on the group to stop violating the fundamental rights and freedoms of women in Afghanistan.
Recently, Amnesty International established an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan to probe the violations of human rights. Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan is cited as saying, “The establishment of this new mechanism marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of truth, justice, and accountability for the people of Afghanistan.
It is believed that such acts would keep the Taliban leadership excluded from the international community and delay its official recognition by the world. Meanwhile, the Taliban’s reputation would be damaged further in the region and beyond.
The voices of Afghan women and female diasporas are most likely to be the main reason behind the international reactions. Women voiced against the violations of their rights in domestic and international media as well as social media. They narrated their stories, wrote about injustice, and documented the violations of their fundamental rights.
It is self-explanatory that sidelining women from the public life will be counterproductive and put horrible consequences on the nation. That is, if half of the population is excluded from schooling and employment, the entire nation would sustain the adverse effect. For example, having no female doctors would put the health of many women at risk. Meanwhile, an uneducated mother is unlikely to train her children in an appropriate way. After all, some women will be the bread-winners of their families. In such a case, if they are unemployed, their families will be in big trouble. They will be forced to prepare their food and clothing through any possible way.
Meanwhile, women’s exclusion will stigmatize the Afghan nation. That is, the world will label the nation as religious fundamentalist. Stereotyping the people of Afghanistan for the act of a particular group will be another stain for the country.
To one’s unmitigated surprise, the ban on women’s education and employment comes as their schooling or working is not forbidden in Islam, but they are reiterated. With this in mind, restricting women’s education and employment is contradictory to Islamic tenets. To conclude, the restrictions root in the highly fundamental interpretation of Sharia Law.
If the Taliban leadership is seeking to practice Islam, serve the nation, and acquire international recognition, it has to lift all the restrictions and let Afghan women go to school and university, engage in social, political, and economic activities, and choose their own dress code. The group has to divert its attention on more significant issues and resolve the challenges of the people.
By: Syed Roshan
