The Ongoing Plight of Afghan Women

In recent years, Afghanistan has seen a distressing regression in women’s rights and gender equality. Once-promising strides made by Afghan women have been overshadowed by the Taliban’s oppressive rule, leaving women in a state of exacerbated vulnerability and fear. This piece sheds light on the challenges Afghan women face and underscores the urgent need for international solidarity and support.

Visual Credit: Farid Ershad

For decades, Afghan women enjoyed a sense of agency and freedom, going about their daily lives without fear of violence or kidnapping by the Taliban, simply for their choice of attire. In 1920, for the first time in the country’s history, Afghanistan established an all-girls school, and 1991, 7,000 Afghan women enrolled in higher education. However, in 2001, the end of the Taliban’s initial rule, the number of Afghan children attending school dropped drastically, with not a single girl among them.

Women in Afghanistan are faced with challenges that many would consider part of everyday life, including leaving their homes. The rule of authority bestowed upon Afghan men is nothing short of outrageous. Over the past three years, the Taliban has systematically banned women from public parks and gyms. Moreover, women are no longer allowed to pursue an education beyond the sixth grade. The dramatic turn of events following President Ashraf Ghani’s departure on August 16th, 2021, have once again plunged the country into insecurity, making it perilous for women to simply survive.

Countries like Canada and Sweden have proudly championed feminist foreign policies. Canada’s commitment to ensuring women and girls have a voice in shaping the international system stands as a beacon of hope for Afghan women. Furthermore, the United Nations has recognized the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls as a fundamental red line. Dr. Nasir Andisha of the UN has warned that a humanitarian crisis is “unfolding as we speak,” with thousands of people at risk.

Adding to growing concerns, Afghan national security forces have reported the recruitment of child soldiers and the suppression of peaceful protests. Dr. Andisha has underlined that “we witness a high number of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses which are documented and most of those gruesome videos are available online. While some Taliban were and are still talking differently, restrictions and violations are already taking place.”

It has been over two years since the Taliban took over Kabul, and the UN has collected data and analysis on the impact of the changing dynamics on the severe conditions of women and girls in Afghanistan. These findings include Afghanistan ranking last on the gender development index in 2023, studies suggesting that 87% of Afghan women and girls have experienced intimate partner violence, and 28% of women being married before the age of 18. These statistics paint a very grim picture of the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The need of the hour is to focus on their liberation and support their efforts to break free from the daily injustices they face, rights that should be granted to all human beings. Imagining the plight of being a woman in a country actively stripping away your fundamental rights is a harrowing thought. The time to act is now, for the women and girls of Afghanistan deserve nothing less than unwavering international support as they strive for a life free from fear and oppression.

Heli (she/her) is a second-year Political Studies student and one of Political Digest’s Lower Year Interns.