By Zahra Joya
As a journalist and a woman from Afghanistan who has closely witnessed the horrific changes over the past nearly four years, I believe that the article recently published in The National Interest titled “Afghan Refugees Should Not Fear Repatriation” presents a false and overly simplistic picture of the real situation faced by women and girls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
I and my colleagues at Rukhshana Media, most of whom work in secret inside the country, have a particular focus on documenting human rights violations committed by the Taliban.
Over the past nearly four years, our work at Rukhshana has been to closely observe and report what women in Afghanistan are experiencing, and to ensure that what is happening to them does not remain hidden in media silence and indifference. It is difficult to comprehensively describe the status of women in a short article, but the following points highlight the disparity between the reality on the ground and what was reflected in the piece by Cheryl Benard, a writer, feminist, and the wife of Zalmay Khalilzad, the key architect of the U.S.-Taliban agreement.
1 – The Imposition of over 80 misogynistic decrees:
Shortly after taking power, the Taliban made at least two symbolic moves that revealed their intentions and agenda toward women. They dissolved the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and replaced it with the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, widely recognized by all human rights organizations, including the United Nations, as the most anti-women institution under Taliban rule. The Taliban also abolished the Independent Human Rights Commission, which had a significant role in recording violence against women and providing services to those suffering abuse both in their homes and society.
After dismantling these two institutions that supported women’s rights, the Taliban began issuing a series of misogynistic decrees. These included the repeal of the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, banning women from attending universities, prohibiting women from working in government and international organizations, banning girls’ education beyond the sixth grade, prohibiting women from studying at medical institutes, shutting down beauty salons, and banning women from parks and recreational spaces. These decrees have since been institutionalized and turned into law.
2 – Arrest and sexual torture of women activists:
From the very first months of Taliban rule, the arrest of women activists has continued consistently. These arrests differ significantly from other detentions. Many women activists who have been imprisoned under the Taliban have shared horrifying accounts of physical torture, humiliation, and even sexual abuse and assault. Rukhshana Media, in collaboration with international media outlets, has documented and reported several cases of such torture and sexual violence.
As editor in chief of Rukhshana Media, I have personally reviewed evidence and even video footage showing sexual abuse of women in the Taliban custody. I have spoken with more than six women who said that they were sexually assaulted while in Taliban prisons.
Many women who have endured imprisonment by the Taliban are now under psychological care and continue to struggle with the mental and emotional consequences of the torture and violations they experienced.
3 – Rise in suicides among girls
Over the past three years, since girls have been banned from attending schools above the sixth grade and universities, there has been a visible increase in the rate of suicide among women and girls. Research conducted by us at Rukhshana Media shows that a significant portion of these suicides are either due to severe depression or the result of rising domestic violence. Unfortunately, at Rukhshana, we report at least one case of suicide by a woman or girl nearly every week.
The despair girls feel about their futures, combined with their inability to pursue education, has driven levels of depression and anxiety to unbearable levels. These women and girls also no longer have access to mental health care services.
4 – Increase in early marriages
The ban on education and employment for girls has severely restricted their lives. Due to the absence of independent research, there are no official or accurate statistics on forced and early marriages. However, reports from our journalists indicate that such marriages have risen alarmingly.
Girls who are deprived of education are among the main victims of domestic violence and forced marriage. With no opportunities for education or employment, family support for girls and women has significantly diminished. As a result, many girls see no option but to submit to early and forced marriages.
5 – Public flogging as punishment
For the past two years, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and its judicial apparatus have been carrying out public floggings. Observations by our journalists, along with reports from human rights organizations and the United Nations, indicate that nearly every day, the Taliban lash women and men in public for alleged illicit relationships.
These floggings are often based on unfounded accusations concerning private matters, and there is no legal or judicial due process involved in the handling of these cases. The consequences of such punishments are disproportionately harsh for women. Many women who are flogged lose the ability to live a normal life in society afterward.
6 – Exclusion of women from the judicial and legal system
Since taking power, the Taliban have abolished existing civil laws and replaced them with regulations based on Hanafi jurisprudence. Under the system the Taliban have implemented, women have been entirely stripped of their rights to divorce and child custody. Women are entirely excluded from all judicial and legal institutions and have been completely erased from the justice system.
Under Taliban law, a man can divorce his wife at any time, sometimes even via a simple text message. Women, however, even in cases of domestic violence, cannot initiate divorce unless they forfeit their dowry to the husband.
7 – Purging women from government institutions
Upon gaining power, the Taliban completely purged women from government positions. Today, women are entirely absent from all state institutions, except for minimal roles in education, health, and the Taliban’s police. Even in those sectors, they have no role in decision-making or policy formation.
Many women who previously held respected positions in government and participated in decision-making bodies have been removed. While Ms. Cheryl Benard was meeting Taliban officials in Kabul, the group cancelled hundreds of faculty positions held by female professors at universities across Afghanistan, replacing them with Taliban clerics. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs dismissed dozens of women who worked in kindergartens, teaching and caring for children.
Many women who once held positions in various government sectors now face severe economic hardship. The shopkeepers, street vendors, and cart-pushers that Ms. Benard cites as symbols of women’s continued presence in society are often the same women who once worked in high-level administrative roles and policy-making positions. Today, they are on the streets simply trying to feed their children.
As a journalist, I find Ms. Benard’s portrayal of the condition of women under the Taliban, especially the claim that Afghan women are better off than those in India, to be in stark contrast with the reality on the ground. I am astonished and puzzled: How, and based on what indicators, can someone who identifies as a feminist and social science researcher reach such conclusions? Where is the evidence supporting these claims?
By what measure is life under Taliban rule “secure” for women, and how can women realistically hope for a bright future in such an environment? Has Ms. Benard ever spoken with women who have survived Taliban prisons? Has she visited Kabul University, where a woman’s mere presence on campus is considered a crime? Has she listened to the voices of the girls who graduated from sixth grade last year and are now banned from attending school? Has she attended any of the Taliban’s public flogging sessions in stadiums and witnessed the brutal punishments inflicted on women in public view?
As a female journalist, I, in common with many other women activists, harbour deep scepticism toward narratives about the condition of women under Taliban rule that lack credible evidence. These accounts are not only misleading, but the motives and intentions behind them raise serious questions. This is especially true when such a narrative comes from the spouse of someone whom many Afghan women view as the chief architect behind the Taliban’s return to power.
We believe that the struggle of women in Afghanistan will continue, regardless of these deceptive portrayals. It is through this ongoing resistance that the gender apartheid system currently ruling Afghanistan will eventually be dismantled. History will not forget those who stood in defence of this oppressive, misogynistic regime, turning a blind eye to all human rights values and principles.
