Taliban celebrate five years in power – without women

 

TT-AFP-AP

 

Published 17.01

          

        A delegate takes a selfie at the inauguration ceremony in Kabul as the Taliban regime celebrates five          years in power. Photo: Siddiqullah Alizai/AP/TT

Afghanistan's Taliban regime is celebrating five years in power with rallies, flags and ceremonies. But women, who have found it increasingly difficult since taking power, are barely visible.

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, after a rapid offensive. Shortly thereafter, American forces left the country and foreign citizens were evacuated.

Now, five years later, the regime is celebrating. But women are not welcome at the cricket matches and other sporting events held in honor of the day.

People have been forced to endure “suffocating restrictions that infringe on almost every aspect of their daily lives and their human rights,” according to Fiona Frazer, head of the UN aid agency in Afghanistan, Unama.

Women have been hit hardest.

“500 years old”

A 23-year-old woman told AFP, speaking anonymously, of a strong feeling of suffocation.

“These five years have been so difficult that I feel like a 500-year-old woman, someone who cannot die.”

Before taking power, the Taliban promised that women would have access to education, work and participation in public life, but in accordance with the principles of Islam. Instead, restrictions have gradually increased.

Today, some 2.4 million girls are excluded from education beyond primary school, an increase of 200,000 from last year alone, according to the UN.

Women are also banned from going to gyms, parks and public baths, participating in sports and travelling to remote areas without a male “guardian”.

UN warns

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has reiterated that they are working to establish a system where women can once again be in classrooms and universities, but in accordance with Sharia law. However, the restrictions have not been lifted.

Afghanistan has systematically stripped half of its population of their rights and women and girls live under the world’s harshest restrictions, according to a UN statement.

True stability and international recognition cannot be achieved until the oppression of women ends, the UN warns.