Taliban denied Afghan women and girls their right to education, work, movement: HRW report

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 11 (ANI): Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised the imposition of restrictions on Afghan women, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported. In the report, HRW said that Afghan women have been denied the right to education, employment, and social involvement since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. 

The report released by HRW reads, “Over the past two years, Taliban authorities have denied women and girls their rights to education, work, movement, and assembly. The Taliban have imposed extensive censorship on the media and access to information, and increased detentions of journalists and other critics,” according to Tolo News report. 

Fazl Hadi Wazin, a university lecturer, said that the Taliban should open schools and universities to girls “without delay.” Meanwhile, some female students stated that they are very worried regarding the closure of schools and universities for girls in Afghanistan.

Shakeba, a student, said, “We haven’t gone to school for three years. One year because of corona and two years because of the Islamic Emirate. We hoped that schools would be opened for us, but they were not opened,” Tolo News reported. Another student Farahnaz called on the Taliban to allow female students to study. 

Similarly, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a report in July said that the Taliban continues to restrict the rights of women and girls, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. The seven-page report that covers the period from May to June highlighted the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women.

The report said, “On 3 May 2023, the de facto Ministry of Public Health announced that only male medical students would be permitted to take the ‘Exit Supplementary Exam’ in order to pursue further specialized medical studies,” Tolo News reported.

It further said that the move comes in addition to the earlier bans preventing women from appearing in the medical school entrance examinations. The report said that the UNAMA recorded instances when the Taliban took measures to impose previously announced restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and participation in employment.

The Taliban’s decision to ban female students above grade six from school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women’s rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce.