Afghanistan is world's most repressive country for women: UN

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, deprived of many of their basic rights, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

In a statement released on the International Women's Day, the UN mission said that Afghanistan's new rulers have shown an almost “singular focus on imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes.”

Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing power in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from Afghanistan after two decades of war.

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They have banned girls' education beyond sixth grade and women from public spaces such as parks and gyms.

Women are also barred from working at national and international non-governmental organisations and ordered to cover themselves from head to toe.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women's rights," said Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the UN secretary-general and head of the mission to Afghanistan.

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“”It has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” she added.

The restrictions, especially the bans on education and NGO work, have drawn fierce international condemnation.

But the Taliban have shown no signs of backing down, claiming the bans are temporary suspensions in place allegedly because women were not wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly and because gender segregation rules were not being followed.

As for the ban on university education, the Taliban government has said that some of the subjects being taught were not in line with Afghan and Islamic values.

“Confining half of the country's population to their homes in one of the world's largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm," Otunbayeva also said.

“It will condemn not only women and girls, but all Afghans, to poverty and aid-dependency for generations to come," she said. "It will further isolate Afghanistan from its own citizens and from the rest of the world."

The UN mission to Afghanistan also said it has recorded an almost constant stream of discriminatory edicts and measures against women since the Taliban takeover — women's right to travel or work outside the confines of their home and access to spaces is largely restricted, and they have also been excluded from all levels of public decision-making.

“The implications of the harm the Taliban are inflicting on their own citizens goes beyond women and girls,” said Alison Davidian, the special representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.

No officials from the Taliban-led government was immediately available for comment.

The UN Security Council was to meet later on Wednesday with Otunbayeva and women representatives from Afghan civil society groups.

According to the statement, 11.6 million Afghan women and girls are in need of humanitarian assistance. However, the Taliban are further undermining the international aid effort through their ban on women working for NGOs.