One of the most noteworthy events that happened globally is the political conflict that happened in Afghanistan. While the political changes catch everyone’s eyeball, there is a group of people who suffers from the change and gain sympathy from people all over the world. This group is Afghanistan women under the regime of the Taliban.
Photo by Wally Skalij
Taliban, as an extremist militia, stripped the basic human rights of female citizens. Taliban’s ideologies about women came from their Islamic beliefs. However, they understand Islamic doctrines more radically. Islam argues that men and women have equal spirit, and what makes them different is the different roles they play in society. As a woman under the Islamic religion, one would be expected to stay in the family environment and be a good wife. However, Islam respects women’s contribution to society and many Muslim scholars agree that women are not obligated to serve their husbands. The ideology is different in the Taliban. 20 years ago when the Taliban hold their power last time, women were wiped out from society. Under their administration, women do not have the right to work, get an education, or even be abandoned from leaving their homes spontaneously. Women were treated as accessories of men. Once they got married, their body belongs to their husbands, and they lost almost all control over their bodies. They even forbade to appear on the street alone without the accompany of a male relative. Since they were a child, Afghanistan women have had to cover their bodies with the burqa, which is a kind of clothes that shrouds the body, leaving only a small mesh-covered window in front of eyes. This behavior is to satisfy Taliban rules about women cannot display their bodies in front of men. However, things were different before the appearance of the Taliban. Before the appearance of the Taliban, women had the right to get educated and work, they could hang out with each other without the accompanying of male relatives, they also could wear fashion clothes instead of burqa. If we allow this condition continues to happen, women’s rights would only be no more than a flag, and more regimes like the Taliban would come out to push the injustice further.
The injustice Afghanistan women faced under the administration of the Taliban reminds me of Marji’s experience in the story of Persepolis. Same with Afghanistan, Iran was an open and diverse country before the change of regime. After the change of regime, all women in the society became “subalterns” whose voices were never heard by others, and their opinions were always represented by men in their country. Under the system, women lost their freedom, and their significance in society gradually faded away. Even though the new Taliban government argued that they would respect women’s rights, they failed to illustrate what measures they would take to protect women’s rights, and society had already started to insult women’s rights. After the Taliban government took their power, many women were forbidden to get into their workplace, doors of schools were closed for their female students, and faces of women were erased from commercials. A student of the American University of Afghanistan illustrates how despair they are after the Taliban held power. She stated that how she spent 20 years dreaming of a better life but you suddenly find that “you are in a room of darkness where there is no hope for a better life”.
How to change the current condition? Political support is very important. Government around the world needs to stand out to speak for those women meanwhile urge the Taliban government to make changes about their rules. Public opinion is also very important. People around the world should stand out and express their thoughts online to urge governments to notice the condition and adopt related acts. Afghanistan women themselves should also take acts, in most conditions only people themselves could save them. Even though protests are stickily managed by the Taliban government, women need to take action to speak themselves and protest when they could ensure their safety.
Citation:
- The Taliban & Afghan Women
- Heather Barr, “List of Taliban Policies Violating Women’s Rights in Afghanistan”,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/09/29/list-taliban-policies-violating-womens-rights- afghanistan
- 2000. The Complete Persepolis. Pantheon.
- Spivak, Gayatri. Can the Subaltern Speak?. 1988
- DW News, What’s the future for women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan?,