Women's Rights and Women's Rights and the Taliban the Taliban

By: Natalie Cockrell

Twenty years ago today, Afghan women and girls celebrated International Women’s Day with hope. After being denied rights under the rule of the Taliban, women hoped for steady advancements toward fulfilling their human rights. Today, however, the women and girls of Afghanistan are not celebrating. Instead, they are reminded of the twenty years of progress of their rights effectively erased by the Taliban. The 2021 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban caused a significant setback for women’s rights in the country. With their long history of oppression toward women, it is no surprise to the international community that their return to power has resulted in an extreme rollback of progress toward gender equity.

Under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime, women were subjected to severe restrictions on their human rights. They were banned from school, working outside the home, and could not leave their house without a male guardian.

Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, during the United States' twentyyear occupation, women gradually gained fundamental human rights and freedoms, finally allowed to attend school and university, participate in politics, and work outside the home. Afghanistan even had a female Vice-President, Amrullah Saleh, until 2021.

However, approximately a year and a half ago, when President Biden ordered the removal of US troops, the livelihood of 14.2 million women and girls changed. Many experts say that the situation has reverted to pre-2002, as women are now denied their right to work, access to public spaces, health care, and can not leave their homes without a male chaperone. Violating these laws puts women at risk of severe punishment, including beatings, imprisonment, and even death. Throughout Afghanistan, women report feelings of invisibility as they are suffocated and forced into prison-like conditions. Perhaps one of the most significant blows to women's rights has been the closure of girls’ schools. According to the United Nations, over 3 million girls were enrolled in school before the Taliban’s takeover, where now women are banned from all forms of secondary and tertiary education.

Women have effectively disappeared from public life in Afghanistan. Several countries within the global community have condemned the Taliban, and many have pledged humanitarian aid to help Afghan women. As the international community is watching Afghan women being robbed of their human rights, it serves as a sobering reminder of how easily women’s rights can be stripped away.