Women Have Disappeared: NGO Worker Gives Reality Check Of Taliban's 'Promise Of Change'
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan after 20 years of US intervention, they promised an inclusive government where women will have rights. However, the latest developments hint at a repeat of their previous rule of oppression.
Twitter thread by NGO worker
"Women has disappeared from political, social & economic spaces. Women-led NGOs are searched, questioned and have been asked to remain shut. Prominent women activists are threatened through calls, messages and social media," Samira Hamidi working with Amnesty International wrote in her Twitter thread.??
"Women asked to stay indoors"?
"Taliban have asked women to stay at home as they don’t think their militants are trained enough to respect them.Women were sent back from offices, banks & media outlets and asked to stay indoors. In every discussion on future possible governance structure women are ignored," she added.
Adding to her thread, she said, "Gender segregated studies imposed in schools & universities. Taliban don’t think women should be part of senior roles in the new government. Prominent women activists stuck across country fearing their safety. 17 days evacuation have left out the majority of women at risk."
Taliban's previous rule
When the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, their strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law - sometimes brutally enforced - dictated that women could not work and girls were not allowed to attend school.
Women had to cover their face and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes. Those who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban's religious police.
During the past two years, when it became clear that foreign troops were planning to withdraw from Afghanistan, Taliban leaders made assurances to the West that women would enjoy equal rights in accordance with Islam, including access to employment and education.
However, several women have complained that they have been barred from entering their workplaces, female journalists have fled Afghanistan worried about their safety.
Activist's stern stand
Afghan girls' education activist Pashtana Durrani, 23, was wary of Taliban promises."They have to walk the talk. Right now they're not doing that," she told Reuters, referring to assurances that girls would be allowed to attend schools.
"If they limit the curriculum, I am going to upload more books to (an) online library. If they limit the internet ... I will send books to homes. If they limit teachers I will start an underground school, so I have an answer for their solutions."
Some women have said that one test of the Taliban's commitment to equal rights would be whether they give them political and policy-making jobs.
