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WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN
The Problem
Since the Taliban became a military and political force in late 1994, women and girls in
Afghanistan have become virtually invisible in Taliban controlled portions of the
country. The impact of Taliban imposed restrictions are most acutely felt in the cities
where women had enjoyed relatively greater freedoms. In 1996, the University of
Kabul reportedly had several thousand women students while thousands of
professional women worked in different capacities in the city. Since the Taliban
takeover, women are not allowed to attend school and others have been forced to
leave their jobs.
The Taliban have issued edicts forbidding women from working outside the home,
except in limited circumstances in the medical field. Hardest hit have been over
30,000 widows in Kabul and others elsewhere in the country, who are the sole
providers for their families.
The Taliban prohibit girls from attending school. There are a few home based schools
and some schools in rural areas which quietly operate to educate girls. They fear
closure.
Women and girls are not allowed to appear outside the home unless wearing a head to
toe covering called the burqa. A three inch square opening covered with mesh
provides the only means for vision. Although the burqa was worn in Kabul before the
Taliban took control, it was not an enforced dress code and many women wore only
scarves that cover the head. Women are also forbidden from appearing in public with
a male who is not their relative.
Women's and girls' access to medical services has been drastically cut back. Women
are treated primarily by female doctors and the number of female doctors has been
greatly reduced. It is also dangerous for women to leave their homes. For example,
one mother in the city of Farah reportedly was shot by the Taliban militia for appearing
in public to take her toddler to a doctor. The child was acutely ill and needed
immediate medical attention.
Taliban militia mete out punishment for violations of these rules on the spot. For
example, women have been beaten on the street if an inch of ankle shows under their
burqa. They have been beaten if they are found to move about without an explanation
acceptable to the Taliban. They have been beaten if they make noise when they walk.
According to one report, a women struggling with two small children and groceries in
her arms was reportedly beaten by the Taliban with a car antenna because she had let
her face covering slip a fraction.
Taliban edicts require that windows in houses that have female occupants be painted
over.
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