KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A group of women took to the streets in western Kabul on Wednesday to protest the Taliban’s oppressive policies and demand their fundamental rights.
Members of the “Afghanistan Movement to Change Women’s History” protested in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul, chanting slogans against the Taliban and calling for the overthrow of the Taliban government.
“Education, Work, and Freedom,” “Equality for Men and Women,” and “Taliban commits crimes, and the world supports them” were among the other slogans chanted by the protesting women.
The protesting women say that the international community is not doing enough to protect the rights of women and girls in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Under three years of Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become one of the most repressive countries for women and girls. The regime has heavily restricted their freedom of movement, denying them access to education, employment, social mobility, and other basic rights.
Last month, the Taliban announced the ratification of a new “Morality” law, which imposes additional restrictions on the Afghan population, particularly women and girls, and includes arbitrary and potentially severe enforcement measures.
UN experts, human rights groups, and activists all assert that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls constitutes a system of apartheid, intentionally designed to subjugate them solely based on their gender.
The protesting women voiced their opposition to the recent closure of Afghanistan diplomatic missions in the UK, Germany, and Norway, arguing that these embassies represent the last remnants of Afghanistan.
They urged countries not to hand over Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions to the Taliban and to reject the regime’s diplomats.
Recently, the Afghanistan diplomatic missions in the UK and Norway, operated by diplomats appointed by the republic government, announced they would cease operations in the coming days, citing official requests from the host countries as the reason.
Similarly, Afghanistan’s missions in Germany, except for the one in Munich, have reportedly been closed in recent weeks.
Despite the Taliban’s severe crackdown on demonstrations, women have continued to protest against the group’s restrictive policies on women in various provinces, especially in Kabul in the past three years.
Afghan women have mounted the fiercest opposition to the Taliban, often risking their lives in the process. They have faced detention, torture, and even rape, all in their effort to ensure that the Taliban are not left unchallenged.
