Harsh Rules for the Women of Afghanistan

By Bano Hashimi

The situation of women in Afghanistan is not good at all because our government does not accept women and the Islamic Emirate say that women are only there to work at home and have no right to work outside their homes. The Emirate does not want women and girls to study. Girls in Kabul and the provinces have been prevented from attending school. Even though God has equalized the right of men and women in the holy Quran, our government, the Taliban, do not accept this. In some countries of the world women rule but in our country women live under restrictions and oppression. The situation of women in Afghanistan is not good. I hope this situation will not continue.

Women like men have the right to work outside the home because men and women have equal rights. Women like men have the right to study but in our country women have been deprived of this right because the Islamic Emirate opposes women’s progress and education beginning with its girls. I want the women in my country to resist the Taliban and challenge them every time and everywhere.

From the age of eight onward, girls in Afghanistan are not allowed to go to schools and cannot be in direct contact with males other than close “blood relatives,” husbands, or other their mahrams (a Muslim woman’s group of allowable escorts when she travels outside her home). Other restrictions for women are that women should not appear in the streets without a male escort or without wearing a burqa. These rules are very harsh for every woman.