Afghanistan: Taliban regime wipes women out of public life, sparking mental health crisis
Alison Davidian, United Nations Women The country representative in Afghanistan briefed journalists in New York on their latest information. report Addressing the plight of women and girls since in fact The government returns to power in August 2021.
She described this period as “three years of countless decrees, directives and statements targeting women and girls, depriving them of their basic rights and depriving them of their autonomy”.
‘The horrors are not over yet’
Taliban edicts denied girls education beyond the sixth grade and banned women from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“Three years ago, the world witnessed a takeover that was broadcast live and was full of horror,” she said via videoconference from the Afghan capital Kabul.
“And three years later, while the world’s attention may have turned elsewhere, the horrors have not stopped for Afghan women and girls, but also do not have their faith to fight against oppression“ .
A 31-year-old woman sits by the window. She was a businesswoman before the Taliban took power.
Follow other women
The UN Women report details trends based on consultations with thousands of women across Afghanistan – from provincial capitals to rural areas – since the Taliban returned.
“The first prominent trend is the erasure of Afghan women from public life,” said Ms. Davidian.
“To date, there are no women in Afghanistan who hold any leadership positions of political influence, at the national or provincial level. When women enter Taliban structures, Their role was primarily to monitor compliance with discriminatory decrees by other women.“ .
No longer heard, even at home
This political marginalization is also reflected at the societal level where up to 98 percent of women surveyed felt they had limited or no influence on decisions made in their communities.
Furthermore, the percentage of women who feel they have a say in decisions made in their households has dropped by nearly 60 percent in the past year.
“To put things in perspective, three years ago, technically an Afghan woman could decide to run for president. Now, she can’t even decide when to go grocery shopping.“, Ms. Davidian said.
“Now, I’m not saying three years ago was perfect. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t like this.”
Asked about these findings, she replied: “I think that when you take away women’s right to education and restrict their right to work and their right to participate in community life, it affects all rights and affects women’s self-determination in general.”
Mental health crisis
UN Women data also reveals a growing mental health crisis linked to disempowerment. Sixty-eight percent of women report having “poor” or “very poor” mental health, and Eight percent said they knew at least one other woman or girl who had attempted suicide..
Ms Davidian is adamant that the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls will affect generations to come.
“Our analysis shows that by 2026, the impact of 1.1 million girls not going to school and 100,000 women not going to university will lead to a 45% increase in early childbearing and a 50% increase in maternal mortality,” she said.
Investing in women
In the face of a worsening women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan, UN Women calls for continued investment in women and girls in the country.
“Nothing undermines the Taliban’s vision for society more than empowering the very population they seek to oppress,” Ms. Davidian told reporters.
Investing, she said, means allocating long-term sustainable funding to women’s organizations, designing programs that directly combat their exclusion, such as initiatives focused on education, livelihoods and entrepreneurship, and facilitating spaces “where Afghan women can directly tell us what their priorities are and what their recommendations are.”
On entrepreneurship, she explained that Afghan women can run businesses, albeit mostly at home, in areas such as carpet weaving, tailoring and food processing. However, access to markets and finance are key challenges.
In this regard, UN Women is supporting Afghan women entrepreneurs to overcome these barriers, in addition to helping them develop business development skills “so they can make the most of the space they have.”
An Afghan girl studies at home with the help of her father after being denied the right to continue her education at school.
‘The world is watching’
Overall, the agency’s report found that “Afghan women want to represent themselves, but one meeting, one option to participate is not enough,” said Ms. Davidian.
“In all forms of engagement, we need to ask ourselves how we can meaningfully include Afghan women. And how can we break the pattern of exclusion of women?”
She also looked at the bigger picture, saying that “we are at a real turning point” in the fight for women’s rights globally, not just in Afghanistan.
“The world is watching what happens to Afghan women and girls,” she said. “In some cases, the world is watching to condemn, but in other cases, the world is watching to emulate the Taliban’s systematic oppression.”
She stressed that the international community cannot leave Afghan women to fight alone because “if we do, we have no moral reason to fight for women’s rights anywhere else. Their fate determines the fate of women everywhere.”
Check UN Women’s In Focus Page for more information and insights into Afghanistan three years after the Taliban took power.
