September 2022 marks the one year anniversary for the Taliban’s reclaim of control over Afghanistan and despite US pledges to protect female rights, there has been arguably no population more affected by the takeover than Afghan women and girls and no population less aided.
Afghanistan has had a tumultuous past three decades, with the country being occupied by Soviet troops, then US international forces and being ruled by oppressive militant groups such as the Islamic Taliban. Yet throughout this ever changing political climate, there has always been one constant, the degradation of women’s rights at the hands of different groups. Following the 2021 invasion of the Taliban, women and girls of Afghanistan continued to hold out some hope that they would be protected as the USA made numerous pledges to fight for their rights. Slowly their hope has diminished as a year later, women’s rights have been severely curbed and the USA has done very little to keep to their promises.
A photograph of women's fashion in Kabul in the 1970s
Afghanistan’s Political History
It was not always this way. The early to mid 20th Century was a promising time to be a woman in Afghanistan, with the right to vote being granted in 1919, a year before the USA, and numerous laws enforcing equal rights being passed by the 1960s. However, as the 1970s came around, and the Taliban claimed their power, women had their rights increasingly rolled back.
The Taliban's rule lated from 1996 to 2001, in which time they enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law on Afghanistan. Arguably, women and girls were the most affected as they were banned from:
Going to school or studying
Working
Leaving he house without a male chaperone
Showing their skin in public
Accessing healthcare delivered by men
Being involved in politics or speaking publicly
Women’s independence was stripped away and they were forced to become invisible in public life to such an extent that residents in Kabul had to cover their ground and first-floor windows so women could not be seen from the street. If a woman was to leave her house, she had to be in a full body burqa and accompanied by a male relative. Straying from these discriminatory laws gave men the authority to beat, whip and stone the woman to death with no consequence.
However, the Taliban was at last ousted from power following the US led military intervention on the 11th September 2001. The next two decades, schools opened their doors to girls, women were able to go back to work again and a new constitutions in 2003 and 2009 progressed equality and the elimination of violence immeasurably.
In August 2021, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan once again. Despite their initial promise to allow women to work and study, the Taliban quickly returned to their violent and discriminatory ways against females. Now, female rights to political participation has been eliminated, with women holding no cabinet positions in the de facto administration, girls past sixth grade have been banned from attending school, and restrictions have been put in place to prevent women from working majority of jobs that require them to be outside their home. The list of the discrimination against females is alarmingly long, emphasising the loss of progress that had previously been achieved.
A photograph of a passing woman and a member of the Taliban guarding a street in Afghanistan in 2021
One year after the takeover, and the own words of Afghan women and girls who have had to continue living under Taliban rule have been published by humanitarian organisations to raise awareness. Furthermore, a collective diary was created by a group of women aged 22 to 60 from different provinces in Afghanistan, in hopes of sharing information and advice of how to remain safe between them. Excerpts from the 1,500 entries have been published and are now available for the public to read.
The USA’s Involvement
The US created the “Afghanistan War Commission” in December 2021 with the notion of examining “key strategic, diplomatic and operational decisions”. One of the aspects that was supposed to be examined, following multiple government pledges, was female rights. However, none of the 14 men and 2 women are experts on women’s rights, which given that the US repeatedly used Afghan women and girls as a justification for the war, is troubling. The Commission must re-examine the US’ obligations to Afghan women and if they plan to commit to them, they should ensure it has the expertise to do so. However, there is some hope that someone with this essential knowledge will enter as the role of the Commission’s executive director has not yet been appointed.
The US has consistently failed to deliver most of their promises to Afghan women: their right to free movement, expression, etc. have all been taken away, and their pledge to evacuate Afghans who helped US troops was never fulfilled as the majority of women - including activists - who helped the military were left abandoned. Furthermore, only 7-10% of Afghan applicants for US special immigrant visas are women, raising the question of whether the US should continue making empty statements pledging their support. For this reason, the Commission must investigate and document the government’s pledges and those that have not been delivered and prioritise the action they take to help protect the women still living under the Taliban’s brutal rule. However, if the US is willing to fully commit themselves to helping this cause, Biden administration should raise the refugee ceiling from 125,000 to at least 200,000, prioritising Afghan women and girls through existing programs. In addition, they should collaborate with countries neighbouring Afghanistan in order to facilitate the safe passage of those who are able to escape as currently, the majority have closed their land borders to incoming Afghan refugees and overcome administrative struggles as only 48% of women possess proper identification documents in comparison to the 94% of men.
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