By: Rukhshana Media
Women have publicly protested for their rights in the streets of Afghanistan’s capital on the eve of International Women’s Day.
The protest was held in front of the United Nations political representative office in Shar-e-Naw of Kabul with demonstrators chanting anti-Taliban slogans and urging the UN and the international community to pressure the Taliban to end its gender apartheid.
The protesters chanted slogans including “No to gender apartheid!” “Education, work, and freedom are our rights”, “Women, justice and freedom”, and “A free woman, a prosperous society”.
Malalai Hashemi, a women’s rights activist and one of the protesters told Rukhshana Media that Taliban-trained female guards descended on the group and beat a number of women and girls, and their car ran over the foot of one of the women.
Hashemi said that violence is the Taliban’s method of choice to quell any criticism or peaceful protests, also using verbal abuse and obscenities to harass the group.
“We don’t expect anything but violence from the Taliban,” she said. “We urge the international community, the United Nations, and the Human Rights Council to stand by the people of Afghanistan, especially women, and girls, and support them to achieve their human rights.”
She said that the Taliban should not be given more power to play with the future and fate of Afghan girls and women.
Tarranom Saeedi, a women’s rights activist abroad and one of the protest coordinators, told Rukhshana Media that women came to the march because of the restrictions against their rights, the discrimination they face, and the gender apartheid that prevails in Afghanistan.
Ms Saeedi said that despite the risk and threats from the Taliban, the women took to the streets to remind the international community that Afghan women are trapped in a very deep crisis and grow more isolated every day with no institutions helping them address such issues anymore.
She warned that if the international community does not act against the gross and public violation of human rights, irreparable damages will be wrought on all the society, culture and the country’s future.
She added that expecting good treatment from the Taliban was really a mistake and wrong expectation, because the group’s ideology is death, pain, horror, and terror, and it will never be changed.
Ms Saeedi said that Afghanistan’s women today are conscious women – they are fully aware of all their rights and they will not stop fighting until they get their absolute rights.
Balkh: Protest demands end to the ban on women’s work and education
A public rally in the heart of Mazar-e-Sharif city on the eve of International Women’s Day has demanded the Taliban stop lift the ban on women working in certain sectors and allow them to receive an education.
The women and girls who gathered for the demonstration demanded the gates of schools, educational institutions, and universities be opened again for girls to attend.
They criticized the Taliban’s ban on women working in domestic and foreign NGOs and called on them to provide suitable job opportunities for women.
Mehrieh Karimi, one of the protestors and a former third-year student at Balkh University’s Faculty of Law, told Rukhshana Media that the restrictions are unjust.
“We did not get into the university easily. We endured so much hardship and stayed up all night and studied with great enthusiasm,” she said, as she held back tears with her voice breaking. “We have taken on every restriction imposed by the Taliban, but it they don’t like us to learn at all. Even if this deprivation is meant to take us to Heaven, then I will never ask for Heaven.”
A number of mothers whose daughters were students before the bans were also participating in the protest, calling for the right of their daughters to learn.
One mother, Yasmin Nabizada, said that it is hard for her to witness the pain and suffering her daughter goes through every day since the closure of schools.
“Nowhere in the Holy Quran does it say that a boy should study and a girl should not,” she said. “I am a mother myself. My daughter cries every day. This hurts me a lot. I want my children to get an education and I want the schools to be opened for all girls.”
The academic year began on March 6, but only male students were allowed to attend high schools and universities across the country.
Paktika: Protestors demand an end to Taliban brutality towards women
A group of women have gathered in Paktika to protest against the ban on women’s work and education on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The group held the protest indoors due to the high risk of Taliban violence.
They chanted slogans such as “Education is our right”, “Elimination of women is elimination of human beings”, “Support the future generation”, “Women’s rights, equal to men” and “Bread, work and freedom”.
Maryam Mohammadi, one of the Paktika protesters, said in a message to Rukhshana Media that the only wish of Afghan women and girls is to be able to learn, to work, and to have social freedom.
She said the Taliban practices are causing women and girls in the province to struggle with many problems that are a direct threat to their lives. According to Mohammadi, it starts small with the something as simple as not being able to the go shopping at the market but it gets far more serious with many women not even able to get medical attention at a hospital or go to a pharmacy without a male companion, even if they have an acute illness or are in pain.
“And if they do (get help), they must have a man with them,” she said.
