KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – On the third anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, Afghan women have called for urgent global action against the Taliban’s “rampant misogyny” in the country.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, August 13, the Purple Saturday Movement, a women’s rights group in Afghanistan, criticized the UN for its failure to pressure the Taliban and protect Afghan women, warning that the organization risks harming its global reputation.
“In the three years since the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan, the group has become notorious internationally for its egregious treatment of women. The Taliban’s rule has been marked by rampant misogyny, violence against women, and systemic efforts to strip women of their rights and freedoms,” the movement said.
“However, the response of the international community and the United Nations to the Taliban’s atrocities has been concerningly inadequate,” it added.
The movement argued that despite clear evidence of human rights violations, the UN and international community have not done enough to confront the Taliban and protect women, with some nations even continuing to engage diplomatically with the regime.
“This approach not only legitimizes the Taliban’s rule but also emboldens them to continue their abuses without fear of repercussions,” the movement emphasized.
“The United Nations will do internal damage to its reputation by abandoning its duty to protect human rights. It also sends a dangerous message globally that women’s rights are negotiable and secondary to political expediency,” the movement added.
The movement urged the international community and the UN to take decisive action against the Taliban to prevent further suffering and deterioration of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Over the past three years of Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become one of the worst countries in the world for women and girls. The regime in power has severely cracked down on them, restricting their movements and denying them access to education, employment, social mobility, and other basic freedoms.
UN experts, rights groups, and activists all say that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls amounts to a system of apartheid, designed to deliberately subjugate them based solely on their gender.
The movement concluded its statement by calling on the international community to take immediate and concrete actions against the Taliban, including imposing sanctions, enforcing diplomatic isolation, and establishing an independent body to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan and ensure accountability for violations.
