KABUL: Amnesty International has reported that the Taliban is increasingly restricting girls and women in Afghanistan, effectively attempting to erase their presence from public life. Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and economic instability, people are experiencing extreme repression and human rights violations, the report noted.
The report, released in collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists, highlighted the Taliban’s severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, including arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and other ill-treatment.
In April, the Taliban expanded employment bans for females to include positions at the UN, complicating efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance.
Women Prevented from Jobs in Afghanistan
According to the report, women remain barred from most public sector jobs, except in specific sectors like healthcare, primary education, or certain security roles at airports and women’s prisons. Women are also banned from appearing in public alone or traveling more than 72km without a male guardian.
Global calls have been made to probe these acts of gender persecution as crimes against humanity. The space for freedom of expression and the media in the country has continued to shrink drastically. In March, at least 2 journalists were reportedly killed in a bomb attack, and dozens more have been arbitrarily apprehended and harassed for reporting critically on the Taliban or breaching their regulations. Between August 2021 and August 2023, at least sixty-four journalists were detained by the Taliban.
The report also notes that more than 80 percent of women journalists ceased working due to the increased restrictions during the same period.
Moreover, it states that unlawful and excessive force has been used against peaceful protests, many led by females, with arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of demonstrators continuing. Many protests have subsequently moved to online platforms.
