2021 2022
TRACKING WOMEN ’ S RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN
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Shortly after seizing power on August 15 , 2021 , the Taliban announced , “ We are going to allow women to study and work within our framework . Women are going to be very active in our society .” 1 But over the following two years , they failed to deliver on this and numerous other promises . In fact , they proactively instituted a set of inhuman edicts to achieve the opposite — a society in which women are brutally forbidden to participate , study , and work .
While the Taliban acted with boldness and impunity , we must not assume the people were complacent or accepted these new policies . Afghanistan is a complex and diverse country , and opinions about women ’ s role in society vastly differ between cities and rural areas ; between the country ’ s north , where CAI implements most of its programs , and its south , which is the Taliban ’ s power center ; and even within communities and families .
The timeline below presents a snapshot of events that reflect both the Taliban ’ s campaign to strip Afghan women and girls of their rights to education , work , and freedom of movement , as well as big and small ways Afghans are fighting back .
AUGUST 15 , 2021
• Taliban fighters take control of Kabul as Afghan government officials flee amid a chaotic and deadly withdrawal and evacuation effort by U . S . forces .
SEPTEMBER 2021
• The Ministry of Education announces the opening of secondary schools for boys but makes no mention of girls .
• Dozens of girls in Paktia Province protest the Taliban ’ s order to close secondary schools for girls . 2
• Female government workers in Kabul are told to stay at home , except for those in jobs that could not be done by men .
2021 2022
MAY 2022 NOVEMBER 2022
DECEMBER 2022
• Women are ordered to wear burqas that cover them from head to toe .
• After female TV anchors are ordered to cover their faces , male TV anchors don face masks in solidarity with the # FreeHerFace campaign . 3 This follows other online campaigns by Afghan women , like # ThisIsNotMyBurqa , in which they wear traditional , colorful dress . 4
• Women in Kabul are banned from public parks , gyms , swimming pools , and public baths , leaving them nowhere to recreate or take their children to play .
• Women are banned from attending university .
1
Yogita Linaye , BBC https :// www . bbc . com / news / world-66461711
2 https :// www . rferl . org / a / afghan-girls-protest-closure-secondary-schools / 32027826 . html
3 https :// www . theguardian . com / global-development / 2022 / may / 24 / male-afghan-tv-presentersmask-up-to-support-female-colleagues-after-taliban-decree
4 https :// www . aljazeera . com / news / 2021 / 9 / 16 / afghanistan-women-colourful-attire-social-media
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