“On my way home today, I passed by the beauty parlour where I used to get my manicures. An Afghan female university student wrote , “The shop front, which had been adorned with lovely photos of girls, had been whitewashed overnight.”
Women in Afghanistan fear that now that the Taliban has retaken control, their civil rights may be taken away from them as the leadership reimposes its harsh Islamic fundamentalist policies.
Afghan women had no voting rights when the Taliban governed Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Working outside the house
Attend classes.
They should not leave the house without a male chaperone, and they must be fully covered by a Burqa.
Afghan women have progressed in education and the workforce since the US removed the Taliban from power in 2001. Girls’ primary school attendance nearly quadrupled, and literacy rates in females increased to 39% in 2017 from 20% in 2005. Over the last 20 years, women employment has increased by approximately 1.6 Million.
However, there are indicators surfacing around that all of the gains might be undone. Female bank workers, for example, are apparently being instructed to stay at home and that male relatives might take up their responsibilities.
When the Taliban took control this spring, they declared they will enable women participation in public life. Experts are doubtful that they will carry it through.
Afghanistan’s latest news
President Biden, who has been widely chastised for the way the United States has handled the situation, said in a video message that while events in Afghanistan “had unfolded more swiftly than we had anticipated,” he does not regret withdrawing US troops from the nation.
Hundreds of Afghan people clung to the sides of a plane as it took off, hoping to get out of the country. At least seven individuals have been reported deceased at Kabul’s airport.
As Kabul’s airport closed to commercial aircraft, United, Emirates, and several other large airlines diverted their flights to avoid the conflicted airspace.
More than 200 journalists, workers, and family members from the New York Times, Wall Street and Washington Post Journal were in danger at the airport, and Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan begged with the White House to protect them.
The neighbouring nations of Afghanistan are prepared for a large number of refugees. Five Mediterranean countries have asked for EU-level discussions on how to respond.