Afghanistan under the Taliban government is the “most repressive country in the world” for women’s rights, with authorities effectively trapping women and girls in their homes, the United Nations said Wednesday.
About 20 women held a rare demonstration in a Kabul street on Wednesday, calling on the international community to protect Afghans, AFP journalists witnessed.
The Taliban government adheres to an austere interpretation of Islam and has imposed a slew of restrictions on girls and women since seizing power in August 2021.
“It has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement marking International Women’s Day.
The UN mission said the crackdown was a “colossal act of national self-harm” at a time Afghanistan faces some of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises.
Taliban authorities have removed women from all but essential government jobs, or are paying them a fraction of their former salary to stay at home.
Women are also barred from going to parks, funfairs, gyms, and public baths, and ordered to cover up in public—ideally with a burqa.
But the biggest crackdown has been on teenage girls and university students, with the authorities banning them from secondary schools and higher educational institutions.
Some women have staged sporadic protests against the bans—risking arrest, violence and social stigma for taking part—but authorities usually disperse them swiftly.