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Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 28, 2023.
© 2023 Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo
(New York) – The Taliban have created the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis since taking power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. Afghanistan is also experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with aid severely underfunded, thousands of Afghans forced back into Afghanistan from Pakistan, and thousands of others expecting to emigrate to Western countries still waiting.
Under the Taliban, Afghanistan is the only country where girls are banned from education beyond the sixth grade. The Taliban have also violated women’s right to freedom of movement, banned them from many forms of employment, dismantled protections for women and girls experiencing gender-based violence, created barriers to them accessing health care, and barred them from playing sports and even visiting parks. The United Nations special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has described the situation as “an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity, and exclusion of women and girls.”
“Under the Taliban’s abusive rule, Afghan women and girls are living their worst nightmares,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “All governments should support efforts to hold the Taliban leadership and all those responsible for serious crimes in Afghanistan to account.”
Since January 2024, the Taliban have detained women and girls in Kabul and other provinces for what they call “bad hijab” – that is, for not abiding by the prescribed dress code. UN experts have reported that some of those detained have been held incommunicado for days and subjected to “physical violence, threats and intimidation.” In addition to intensified restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, the Taliban have severely curtailed freedom of expression and the media and have detained and tortured protesters, critics, and journalists.
The cutoff in development assistance has helped to create Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that more than half of the population – 23 million people – face food insecurity. Women and girls are among the most seriously affected. The UN humanitarian response plan for 2024 is underfunded; as of August, donor countries had contributed only 12 percent of the funds needed.
The loss of foreign assistance has severely harmed Afghanistan’s healthcare system and exacerbated malnutrition and illnesses resulting from inadequate medical care. Taliban restrictions on women and girls have impeded access to health care, jeopardizing their right to health. The Taliban’s education bans guarantee future shortages of female health workers, Human Rights Watch said. Donor countries need to find ways to mitigate the ongoing humanitarian crisis without reinforcing the Taliban’s repressive policies against women and girls.
More than 665,000 Afghans have arrived in Afghanistan from Pakistan since September 2023, having been forced out during a Pakistani government crackdown on foreign immigrants and refugees. Many had lived in Pakistan for decades. The numbers have added to the millions who have been internally displaced in Afghanistan and have strained existing humanitarian support.
Thousands of Afghans who fled the country after the Taliban takeover live in limbo in Iran, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries as resettlement processes in countries that pledged to take in Afghans, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada, have been slow and inadequate to the needs of at-risk Afghans.
“The third anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover is a grim reminder of Afghanistan’s human rights crisis, but it should also be a call for action,” Abbasi said. “Governments engaging with the Taliban should consistently remind them that their abuses against women and girls and all Afghans violate Afghanistan’s obligations under international law. Donors should provide assistance aimed at reaching those most in need and crafting durable solutions to Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.”
