KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Women activists in Afghanistan have urged the UN and the international community to increase pressure on the Taliban, stressing that current efforts to improve the situation for Afghan women have been largely ineffective.
In a statement on Saturday, July 27, the Purple Saturday Movement, a women’s rights group, said that the international response has often been limited to condemnation without meaningful action, leaving women to fend for themselves in an increasingly hostile environment.
“The United Nations and the international community have expressed concern over the plight of Afghanistan women, yet their efforts to effect change have been largely ineffective,” women activists said.
“The global community must move beyond expressions of concern to implement effective measures that support Afghanistan women in their fight for equality and freedom,” they added.
“Only through genuine and robust support can there be hope for a future where Afghanistan women are free from fear and oppression,” they emphasized.
Soon after seizing power, the Taliban promised to respect women’s rights. However, the group has significantly cracked down on women and girls in the nearly three years of its rule, imposing curbs on women’s movements and denying them education, employment, social mobility, and other freedoms.
Despite substantial calls and pressure from the majority of the world, including Islamic countries and organizations, for the Taliban to uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls, the fundamentalist regime argues that their policies and practices are grounded in Islamic Sharia law and Afghan traditions.
Women activists say the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia law places women in a subordinate position, stripping them of basic human rights and confining them to their homes.
They further stated that Taliban rule poses a direct and pervasive threat to women in Afghanistan. “An estimated 95% of women live in fear of the Taliban, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive and sustained international intervention to change the situation,” they said.
The activists have stressed the need to continue their resistance in any way possible to push back against Taliban restrictions, emphasizing the importance of supporting their struggle for rights, justice, and freedom.
