Women’s groups have demonstrated in Afghanistan to demand the rights and freedoms lost since the arrival of the Taliban to power more than a year and a half ago, a time in which, according to the UN, the radicals have tried to »erase» from public life half of the population, relegated again under the excuse of the ‘sharia’ and Islamic law.
In Kabul, several women took to the streets this Tuesday, International Women’s Day, to demand »work and education», according to Tolo News. Also on Monday there were rallies at the gates of universities, coinciding with the resumption of classes that are now reserved for men.
The Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohamad Nadim, has defended that the female veto in the university is only »a temporary decision» and has explained that all the expelled female professors continue to receive their salary, in an attempt to justify biases that are also applied in secondary education or even in the workplace.
In the last quarter of 2022, the level of female employment fell by 25 percent, compared to a 7 percent drop in the case of men, according to a study by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which warns that these statistics are not punctual but mark a trend.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, denounced this week that women have been »erased» directly from Afghan public life, confined back to the home and far from any decision-making body. The Taliban regime has not incorporated any women, despite its commitment to do so after the departure of international troops.
The United Nations has denounced an »almost constant» emission of discriminatory norms, to the point that Afghanistan is today »the country that most represses women’s rights in the world», in the words of the head of the UN mission, Roza Otunbayeva.
«Confining half of the population in one of the countries with the greatest humanitarian and economic crisis to their homes is a colossal act of self-harm. It will condemn not only women and girls, but all Afghans, to poverty and dependence on aid for generations to come,» Otunbayeva warned.
The UN estimates that 13.8 million women and girls will need humanitarian aid in Afghanistan this year, in a particularly complex context because the Taliban lack diplomatic relations with other countries and continue to be subject to sanctions by the main Western blocs.
In fact, the European Union announced on Monday sanctions against Afghan Minister Mohamed Khalid Hanafi for restricting the freedom of women and girls, limiting their freedom of expression and issuing punishments against those who do not respect the edicts of the Taliban regime.
What international observers do agree on, however, is to highlight protests such as those recorded even on this day. The special representative of UN Women in Afghanistan, Alison Davidian, has stressed in a statement that »Afghan women have shown incredible courage and resilience».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
