Afghanistan Women Brace for the Future

by Sydney Wiser ‘23

In the years after 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban collapsed, women’s rights in the country began to improve, particularly in urban areas of the country. Women not only began to run for public offices but their participation in politics was ensured through a 2004 constitutional article requiring that 27 percent of the seats in the House of the People, a governing body similar to the U.S. House of Representatives, be reserved for women. In 2007, the first Afghan women’s soccer team was founded. The Afghan women’s robotics team, formed in 2017, has boasted massive achievements on the international stage.  

Twenty years later, on August 15, 2021, the Taliban stormed Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and took over the country. These high-profile female politicians, athletes, and STEM students were forced to choose between evacuating or living under the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia or Islam law, waiting for what might come next. 

When the Taliban first took over in August, they announced that life would not be the same as it was in the 1990s, particularly for women. Now, a month later, the Taliban has set an ominous tone for what the future of Afghanistan will look like and many women fear that it’s all too familiar. On September 6, the Taliban introduced their interim government to the world. The government was flagged by many nations, including the United States, for its lack of diversity. One of the biggest concerns was that there were no women in positions of power in the new government. 

A day later on September 7, the Taliban banned women from playing sports. They defended this decision by claiming that the religion of Islam does not allow women to play sports that could allow them to be uncovered or accidentally expose their face and body. 

The advancement of education for women has been a massive achievement over the past 20 years for Afghanistan. However, on September 12, the Taliban announced that they would only allow women to return to their universities if they were taught in gender-segregated classrooms and complied with a dress code in accordance with what the Taliban consider to be “traditional” Afghan dress. The dress code requires women to attend school in a full-length black burqa. 

Contrasting this announcement, on September 28, the Taliban-appointed Chancellor of Kabul University barred female students and employees from attending until an “Islamic environment” is created. 

For younger girls, the new education ministry has not yet announced if they will be permitted to return to their schooling. However, young boys and their male teachers were ordered to return to their secondary schools on September 17. 

On September 18, the Women’s Affairs Ministry was replaced by a newly added Ministry of Vice and Virtue. In the 1990s, this ministry was infamous for brutal enforcement of the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic laws. They dispatched “moral” police for these enforcements and, although they were not the sole victims, women were often the targets of brutal beatings for seemingly dressing “immodestly” or being seen outside without a male escort. And most recently on September 19, the Taliban-appointed Kabul mayor announced that female city workers are not permitted to return to their jobs in the city’s government. 

Despite the severe penalties for defiance against the Taliban, women in Afghanistan have taken to the streets to protest. They were the women who were unable to escape the country before major world powers left and the Taliban made it even more difficult for people to escape. The ones who protest now have few choices left as the Taliban continues to strip away the basic rights women have begun to earn in Afghanistan.