Taliban insist Afghan women’s rights protected amid bans

The Taliban have issued a message on International Women’s Day, saying Afghan women live in security with their rights protected, even as the UN condemns ongoing employment and education bans.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade (age 11-12), most employment, and many public spaces.

Last August, the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces outside the home.

The Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement on his official X account, without specifically mentioning International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8.

He said the dignity, honour, and legal rights of women were a priority for the Islamic emirate, the term used by the Taliban to describe their government.

Afghan women lived in security, both physically and psychologically, he added.

“In accordance with Islamic law and the culture and traditions of Afghan society, the fundamental rights of Afghan women have been secured,” said Mr Mujahid.

“However, it should not be forgotten that the rights of Afghan women are being discussed within an Islamic and Afghan society, which has clear differences from Western societies and their culture.”

Also on Saturday, the UN renewed its call for the Taliban to lift the bans.

Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said: “The erasure of women and girls from public life cannot be ignored.

“We remain committed to investing in their resilience and leadership, as they are key to Afghanistan’s future.”

Alison Davidian, special representative for UN Women Afghanistan, said the world could not accept a future for Afghan women that would never be tolerated elsewhere.

“Our response to their erasure is a test of our commitment to women and girls everywhere,” said Ms Davidian. “We must stand with Afghan women as if our own lives depend on it — because they do.”

The Taliban remain isolated from the West – and without international recognition as the country’s official government – because of their restrictions on women and girls.

The Afghanistan Journalists Support Organisation said 893 women were currently employed in the media sector. That is a drop from 2,756 who were working before 2021, according to Reporters Without Borders.

There were nine provinces where there were no women in the media industry, the Afghan support organisation said.

The declining participation of female journalists, driven by the Taliban’s discriminatory policies, signalled a “concerted effort” to erase women from the media landscape, it said.

On Friday in Paris, Unesco hosted a high-level conference on women and girls in Afghanistan.

Participants included Hamida Aman, the founder of the women-only station Radio Begum, Fawzia Khoofi, a parliamentarian from the former Western-backed government, and rights experts including Richard Bennett, who is barred from entering Afghanistan.

In an apparent dig at the event, the spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry Saif ul-Islam Khyber said recent international conferences held under the name of women’s rights exposed the hypocrisy of certain organisations and European Union foundations.