Their return to power has alarmed, many, especially women, are concerned about what Taliban governments would mean to them.
The freedom of women in Afghanistan was drastically reduced under the rule of the Taliban railways from 1996 to 2001.
The Taliban, who came to power last month when the United States withdrew its troops after a 20-year war, had banned girls and women from schools and most were working when they last ruled the country. .
The women had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to leave their home. Those who violated the rules often suffered humiliations and public coups by the Taliban religious police.
Although Taliban officials are trying to convince the world that things will be different this time, Afghan women are still in an unsustainable position.
Taliban on women’s rights
Since coming to power for the second time, the Taliban have assured that women would be allowed to work in important sectors of society, in accordance with Islamic law, and that their rights would be protected.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, vowed to respect women’s rights according to sharia rules.
Interpretations of Islamic law vary widely throughout the Muslim world, with the most moderate strains predominating.
The previous Taliban government was shaped by the unique Afghan tribal traditions, according to which women cannot be seen in public. These customs persist, especially in the countryside, even for twenty years of Western-backed governments.
The Taliban have urged women to return to work and allowed girls to return to school, handing out Islamic handkerchiefs at the door.
However, terrestrial realities indicate that the situation under the Taliban 2.0 is more or less the same.
In early July, as Taliban insurgents seized territory from government forces across Afghanistan, the group’s fighters entered the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave. .
The gunmen escorted them to their home and told them not to return to work. Instead, they explained that male relatives could replace them.
While the Taliban have promised inclusive government, many Afghan women are concerned and fear a setback in the rights they have acquired over the past two decades.
In Kabul, employers have whitewashed or removed images of women from beauty salons and tailor shops for fear of possible retaliation.
Amid reports of the formation of a new government in Afghanistan headed by Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar, a group of women’s rights activists in Kabul called on the team to ensure women’s decision-making in the future government.
Dozens of Afghan women held protests in Herat and Kabul demanding women’s rights and representation in government formation after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
However, the protests turned violent in Kabul after Taliban forces used force to disperse protesters.
Several women, who demanded inclusion in the Taliban government, said they were beaten by Taliban fighters, some of the first concrete evidence of the group’s harsh treatment of women.
“When I tried to resist and continue the march, one of the armed Taliban pushed me and hit me with a sharp metal device,” one of the protesters told the New York Times.
“Women going to private Afghan universities to wear niqab”
There are also indications in education that women will face discrimination.
In a lengthy document issued by the Taliban’s education authority, they ordered that women should only be taught by other women, but if that were not possible, they could fill in “old men” of good character.
The Taliban have ordered that classes be separated by sex, or at least divided by a curtain.
Women attending private Afghan universities will also have to wear an abaya robe and a niqab that cover most of the face, according to the order issued by the Taliban.
In recent years, the burqa and niqabs have largely disappeared from the streets of Kabul, but are more often seen in smaller cities and towns.
From now on, in private schools and universities, women should only be taught by other women, or “old men,” and use an entry for women only.
No place in the cabinet
The Taliban have said they are about to form a government and will make the announcement soon. There is speculation about the composition of a new government, although officials have said it is unlikely that women will be included.
A Taliban spokesman has said women can continue to work in government, but are not guaranteed the cabinet or other senior positions.
Beheshta Arghand, the first Afghan woman journalist to interview a Taliban official live on television and then fled the country for fear of her life, told AFP in Qatar that women in Afghanistan were “in a very bad situation “. “I want to say this to the international community: please do everything you can for Afghan women,” said Arghand, the anchor of media group Tolo News.
Last month, the Taliban called on Afghan women to stay at home until there were adequate systems in place to ensure their safety.
“We heard some of these explanations in 1996 to 2001, when the Taliban said that the reason girls could not study and women could not work was because the security situation was not good.” Heather Barr, associate director of Human Rights Watch’s women’s rights division, told The Guardian.
“This indicates that even in the 1990s the Taliban felt the need to disguise some of their misogyny,” he added.
Women in some provinces have also been told not to leave their homes without a male relative escorting them.
Fighting years of misogyny
Over the past twenty years, women have increasingly accessed powerful positions in numerous fields, including government, business, health, and education, in the male-dominated society of the country.
The chairman of the UN Security Council said the most powerful UN body would not oust Afghanistan this month and “the real test of fire” for the new Taliban government will be how it treats women and girls .
Despite the Taliban’s assurances, experts doubt their promises about women’s rights and believe Afghan women are likely to face an uncertain future under their regime.
(With agency contributions)