KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, November 25, the Purple Saturdays Movement condemned the international community’s failure to protect Afghan women from the violence and repression they face under Taliban rule.
The movement, an Afghan women’s protest group formed in response to the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights, said in a statement that the Taliban has transformed Afghanistan into a “hell of structural repression and systemic violence” against women and girls since their takeover in August 2021.
According to the group, the United Nations and its Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) have taken “no effective action” against the Taliban’s gender-based policies.
“Instead, through behind-the-scenes diplomacy, they have reduced sanctions and pressure on the regime, demonstrating a moral collapse of the international community’s collective responsibility,” the group said.
The Purple Saturdays Movement warned that the international community’s “contradictory behavior” has left Afghan women even more vulnerable. The group also noted a significant decline in women’s street protests, pushing many toward silence.
The movement further emphasized that normalizing relations with the Taliban and failing to respond decisively to their crimes represents a diplomatic failure. This approach, the stated, not only undermines human rights values but also risks expanding violence, gender apartheid, and extremism both in the region and globally.
The Purple Saturdays Movement condemned the Taliban’s treatment of Afghan women and girls, calling it a serious crime against humanity and a violation of fundamental human rights.
The movement urged for an immediate end to the violation of women’s rights and urged the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Taliban leaders responsible for these atrocities.
Despite repeated calls from human rights activists, women’s organizations, and protest movements, the group stated that “no decisive action has been taken to hold the Taliban accountable.”
The group of women protestors urged the international community to support a legitimate alternative to the Taliban’s self-proclaimed government to help rescue Afghan women from their current, suffocating circumstances.
