Taliban restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights are also threatening women in media trying to report on the situation, female journalists in Balkh told Rukhshana Media.
In an open letter, they’ve called on the Taliban, the United Nations and national and international organizations to support journalists, saying female journalists have suffered the most during nearly two years of Taliban rule.
The Taliban’s de facto authorities have pressured them by restricting what they can cover, interfering in their programs, refusing to grant interviews to women and forcing media organisations to segregate them, the women say.
On May 25, media authorities declared that women should not host radio or television programs. The journalists compared this gender discrimination to “the bitter experience” of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban closing universities to girls.
They fear they may suffer the fate of women and girls deprived of education. The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education first segregated universities based on gender but later barred all females until further notice.
“We don’t have a problem with the nature of the clothing order, but we cannot tolerate the imposition of restrictions based on gender,” the letter says.
It calls on the United Nations Human Rights Council to consider their situation in its 53rd session and force the Taliban government to create a working environment for both men and women based on the law of mass media.
Organisations supporting journalists and media assert that only 300 women are currently working in the country’s media, compared to more than 2,000 before the Taliban seized power.
Zarif Karimi, head of the Nai-supporting Media Organization, tells Rukhshana Media that female journalists have suffered the most economic loss.
The 53rd meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding Afghanistan will be held in two days.
