By Sofia Ramyar
Today marks one year since the second attack on Kaaj Education Center in Kabul that left 35 young students, mostly girls, dead. One year later, all those places of learning are inaccessible to women. The anniversary must be a sobering reminder of the loss and persecution women in Afghanistan endure.
The UN Security Council Meeting on Afghanistan ended earlier this week without any tangible outcome beyond empty words of condemnation. Such indecisiveness and lack of action are proving costly for women in Afghanistan. It is time for the Western world to stop undermining our women’s struggle for freedom if they don’t support it.
I have experienced life in Afghanistan under the first Taliban regime during the 1990s to know that women today live under the same brutality and oppression. There is, however, one critical distinction. This time, it is not only the Taliban that suppresses us. The international community is also responsible for the horrific human rights violations in Afghanistan.
On the one hand, the global community calls for protecting and upholding human rights. On the other hand, they expand their diplomatic engagement and provide financial support to the same regime that tramples these rights. One cannot miss the hypocrisy.
This time, it is not only the Taliban that suppresses us. The international community is also responsible for the horrific human rights violations in Afghanistan.
In 2001, Western leaders used women’s suffrage to justify a war in Afghanistan. In 2021, they endorsed an agreement between the Taliban and the United States, which, among other factors, contributed to the Taliban’s rise to power and subsequently led to the exclusion of women from public life.
During the US-Taliban talks, the women in Afghanistan understood the weight of a system that would grant the Taliban a share of power through a potential intra-Afghan dialogue. Yet, we embraced a broader perspective, holding on to the belief that peace that might bring an end to the relentless loss of life was on the horizon. We thought that it would offer solace to those who had lost so much to the violence and had mourned for decades.
Those hopes were, however, shattered when the Taliban returned to power, turning our fears into an unimaginably harsh reality. Witnessing the Taliban rule the country on their own lawless terms, hearing them dictate the details of women’s lives from their clothing down to their movements, and seeing them seize control of their very existence is unsettling, to say the least.
Yet, the Taliban’s behavior is far from surprising. Their actions very well align with their extremist ideology. But the outside world ignores that. Continued international engagement with the regime only normalizes such draconian behavior. The Taliban are ruling Afghanistan, without any assignment of accountability and responsibility to address the needs and demands of Afghanistan’s citizens. This has magnified the Taliban’s cruelty and oppression of Afghan women.
Yet, the Taliban’s behavior is far from surprising. Their actions very well align with their extremist ideology. But the outside world ignores that.
The Afghan women, however, continue to fight for their rights, although all by themselves. Their struggle comes at a heavy cost, paid for with their blood as they face the Taliban’s gun barrels on the streets and their torture in the interrogation chambers.
Hundreds of women activists and peaceful protesters demanding their rights and opposing Taliban restrictions face threats, arrests, and forced disappearances. Many remain in Taliban custody, including two women’s rights activists, Zholya Parsi and Neda Parwani, along with their family members, who were recently illegally detained.
Worse might still be to see the outside world stand still as if women in Afghanistan either want this plight or deserve it.
Indeed, the international community should engage with and listen to a wider range of women’s voices inside and outside of Afghanistan.
The global community should learn from the past two years that a policy of engagement without accountability and appeasement cannot change the regime’s behaviour toward women. In fact, such a policy so far has only emboldened the Taliban to suppress half of our population; thus, it is harming Afghanistan’s women.
Indeed, the international community should engage with and listen to a wider range of women’s voices inside and outside of Afghanistan. They should take note of the demands for a reduction of diplomatic engagement with the Taliban, for increasing interaction with non-Taliban parties including women, and for actions that recognize the apparent system of gender-apartheid in the country. Instead of tacitly asking Afghan women to endure more pain, the international community, particularly those who claim to respect human rights, should not tolerate the Taliban’s treatment of women. Any approach towards Afghanistan must be based on recognizing and advancing our people’s rights and the struggle for freedom led by women.
Sofia Ramyar is an MA candidate in Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University and former executive director of Afghans for Progressive Thinking, a Kabul-based NGO.
Outside World Shouldn’t Undermine Women’s Movement in Afghanistan
By Sofia Ramyar
Today marks one year since the second attack on Kaaj Education Center in Kabul that left 35 young students, mostly girls, dead. One year later, all those places of learning are inaccessible to women. The anniversary must be a sobering reminder of the loss and persecution women in Afghanistan endure.
The UN Security Council Meeting on Afghanistan ended earlier this week without any tangible outcome beyond empty words of condemnation. Such indecisiveness and lack of action are proving costly for women in Afghanistan. It is time for the Western world to stop undermining our women’s struggle for freedom if they don’t support it.
I have experienced life in Afghanistan under the first Taliban regime during the 1990s to know that women today live under the same brutality and oppression. There is, however, one critical distinction. This time, it is not only the Taliban that suppresses us. The international community is also responsible for the horrific human rights violations in Afghanistan.
On the one hand, the global community calls for protecting and upholding human rights. On the other hand, they expand their diplomatic engagement and provide financial support to the same regime that tramples these rights. One cannot miss the hypocrisy.
In 2001, Western leaders used women’s suffrage to justify a war in Afghanistan. In 2021, they endorsed an agreement between the Taliban and the United States, which, among other factors, contributed to the Taliban’s rise to power and subsequently led to the exclusion of women from public life.
During the US-Taliban talks, the women in Afghanistan understood the weight of a system that would grant the Taliban a share of power through a potential intra-Afghan dialogue. Yet, we embraced a broader perspective, holding on to the belief that peace that might bring an end to the relentless loss of life was on the horizon. We thought that it would offer solace to those who had lost so much to the violence and had mourned for decades.
Those hopes were, however, shattered when the Taliban returned to power, turning our fears into an unimaginably harsh reality. Witnessing the Taliban rule the country on their own lawless terms, hearing them dictate the details of women’s lives from their clothing down to their movements, and seeing them seize control of their very existence is unsettling, to say the least.
Yet, the Taliban’s behavior is far from surprising. Their actions very well align with their extremist ideology. But the outside world ignores that. Continued international engagement with the regime only normalizes such draconian behavior. The Taliban are ruling Afghanistan, without any assignment of accountability and responsibility to address the needs and demands of Afghanistan’s citizens. This has magnified the Taliban’s cruelty and oppression of Afghan women.
The Afghan women, however, continue to fight for their rights, although all by themselves. Their struggle comes at a heavy cost, paid for with their blood as they face the Taliban’s gun barrels on the streets and their torture in the interrogation chambers.
Hundreds of women activists and peaceful protesters demanding their rights and opposing Taliban restrictions face threats, arrests, and forced disappearances. Many remain in Taliban custody, including two women’s rights activists, Zholya Parsi and Neda Parwani, along with their family members, who were recently illegally detained.
Worse might still be to see the outside world stand still as if women in Afghanistan either want this plight or deserve it.
The global community should learn from the past two years that a policy of engagement without accountability and appeasement cannot change the regime’s behaviour toward women. In fact, such a policy so far has only emboldened the Taliban to suppress half of our population; thus, it is harming Afghanistan’s women.
Indeed, the international community should engage with and listen to a wider range of women’s voices inside and outside of Afghanistan. They should take note of the demands for a reduction of diplomatic engagement with the Taliban, for increasing interaction with non-Taliban parties including women, and for actions that recognize the apparent system of gender-apartheid in the country. Instead of tacitly asking Afghan women to endure more pain, the international community, particularly those who claim to respect human rights, should not tolerate the Taliban’s treatment of women. Any approach towards Afghanistan must be based on recognizing and advancing our people’s rights and the struggle for freedom led by women.
Sofia Ramyar is an MA candidate in Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University and former executive director of Afghans for Progressive Thinking, a Kabul-based NGO.