According to the organization, since the return of the group, Afghan women and girls can no longer access health and education or work.
The Taliban deprived Afghan women and girls of the right to health and education, as well as the possibility of working and thus being able to collaborate in the household economy after the seizure of power in Afghanistan in mid-August, denounced this Tuesday the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization.
“The Taliban have imposed policies that violate rights and have created huge barriers to women’s and girls’ health and education, restricted freedom of movement, expression and association, and deprived many of their income from work,” he said. HRW in a joint statement with the Human Rights Institute of San José State University (SJSU).
The humanitarian crisis in the country meant that a large part of the population did not have access to food, water, housing and medical care, after the Islamists’ rise to power led to the suspension of international funds, price increases, a crisis of liquidity and cash shortage.
“Afghan women and girls face both the collapse of their rights and dreams and risks to their basic survival,” said Halima Kazem-Stojanovic, senior Afghanistan researcher at the SJSU Human Rights Institute.
The researcher added that women “are trapped between the abuses of the Taliban and the actions of the international community, which push Afghan women more and more to desperation.”
A dozen women from the southern province of Ghazni assured both institutions that they cannot cope with rising prices for basic food, transport and school books, as most lost their main source of income after that the Islamists restricted women’s access to work.
“Only those who worked in primary education or health care are still able to work, and most did not receive their salary due to the financial crisis,” the statement said.
The coming to power of the Taliban meant that Afghan female students’ access to secondary and higher education was restricted, as well as the modification of their curricula to adapt them to Islamic rules and a greater focus on religion.
“They dictate what women should wear, how they should travel, job segregation by sex, and even what kind of phones women should have. They enforce these rules through intimidation and inspections,” the human rights organization denounced.
“The future looks dark… I had a lot of dreams, I wanted to continue studying and working. I was thinking of doing my master’s degree. At the moment, (the Taliban) don’t even allow girls to finish high school,” she told HRW a woman who worked for the deposed Afghan government.
Likewise, the women stressed that with the disappearance of the national security force and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, they now live more insecure, and some even experience “fear, anxiety, hopelessness, insomnia and a deep sense of loss and helplessness” , they pointed out.
“The policies of the Taliban have quickly turned many women and girls into virtual prisoners in their homes, depriving the country of one of its most precious resources, the skills and talents of the female half of the population,” concluded the director of the HRW women’s rights, Heather Barr. (I)
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