“A very dark day.” This is how 23-year-old Afghan Parnian* describes the moment he encountered the Taliban in front of his university entrance in December. The student wanted to enter his campus in Kabul but was stopped by armed Taliban fighters.
“They shouted to go home, the university was closed to us.” Only male fellows were allowed in, Parnian and her female fellow students were turned away. “We cried. We felt hopeless.”
Parnian’s story is not unique. A lot will soon change for Afghan women when the Taliban come to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of the Americans and NATO. Extremists promise that women’s rights will not be curtailed as they were in the 1990s. However, none of these promises come true.
“Only Dark”
The extremist group decides, shortly after taking power, that older girls are no longer allowed to go to school. A year later, in 2022, the rules will be tightened even more. For example, women will be required to cover completely when outside, and they will be prohibited from gyms, swimming pools and parks.
A ban on education for women will follow in December 2022. In a letter, the minister instructs universities to no longer accept female students. The ministry says they don’t follow the extremely strict dress code. In addition, interaction with male students is undesirable.
Educational institutions are informed by a decree on Tuesday evening that women are no longer allowed to study; Girls are kicked off campus on Wednesday mornings.
For Parnian, who is studying political science and journalism in the Afghan capital, today is the day his life comes to a standstill. Some teachers manage to persuade local Taliban fighters: the students are allowed to take a final test while the Taliban keep an eye on them. Afghan Witness explains on its website that the women cried afterwards. “Exam papers are wet with our tears.”
He would love to be a journalist, he writes in an e-mail. “Now I don’t know how to reach my goals. When I think about the future, all I see is darkness.”
“I suddenly became a housewife”
Afghan Sarah’s life also changed radically with the ban. When the Taliban came to power, she completed her master’s degree in criminal law. “Now I hear every day on TV that women should stay at home,” Sarah says. “Women should only be concerned with religion,” she says in an email.
Sarah, 25, was already working as a prosecutor before the fall of Kabul. “I just feel an emptiness. I was always the best in my class. I worked hard during the day, I worked at night. And suddenly I became a housewife.”
Charities were also hit.
Human rights organizations have also been hit hard by the regime since the end of last year. In December, the Taliban issued a decree banning non-governmental aid organizations (NGOs) from employing (foreign) women. Several charities later stopped working.
The ban still poses a difficult dilemma for NGOs. On the one hand, they do not want to withdraw and continue to provide humanitarian aid in the country, as it is urgently needed. On the other hand, Save The Children, which is also headquartered in the Netherlands, says that the decree refers to a principle. They want to see the ban on women’s occupations as unacceptable.
The decree means that local humanitarian organizations are experiencing manpower shortages. According to United Nations estimates, the ban forced about 85 percent of NGOs in Afghanistan to reduce or completely cease their activities. A week ago, the UN human rights chief warned that the ban was a potential fatal blow to development aid in the country. This appears to have had little effect, although foreign powers have increased the pressure on the Taliban to at least roll back the latest decrees.
As a result, Parnian and Sarah are not optimistic about their future in the country. Sarah: “I come from a poor family but I had a lot of ambition and a good career ahead of me. I am now completely dependent on my husband financially.” Parnian: “I have no hope anymore. There is no place for women in this society”.
*The name “Parnian” has been changed for security reasons.
Source: NOS
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
