The UN says that the Taliban have “erased” Afghan women from public life

June 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada al Nashif, assured this Monday that the Taliban “have erased” Afghan women and girls from public life and that they have taken away their “fundamental rights and freedoms”.

“The rights of women and girls have been regressed globally in recent years, but nowhere has this scourge been as deep and widespread as in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021,” Al Nashif has stated during his participation in the Interactive Dialogue of the Human Rights Council, according to a statement.

Despite the fact that the Taliban assured that the women would be protected by ‘sharia’, in the last 22 months they have been restricted in “all aspects” of their lives.

According to Al Nashif, Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prohibits women from working in international organizations and being employed outside the home; girls cannot even receive education beyond primary school. “The international community cannot allow it to be accepted, let alone normalized,” she added.

The UN has explained the “climate of fear” in which Afghan women live due to “excessive and unjustifiable restrictions”, such as needing a male companion not only to travel, but also to leave their homes to receive medical care. Nor is there a “gender-sensitive and accessible to women” judicial system.

The special rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has reiterated that “serious, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls” is part of the “heart of the ideology and power of the Taliban”.

“This would amount to gender apartheid, a serious violation of Human Rights that, although not yet an explicit international crime, needs to be investigated. We hope that the entire international community will join the fight for the rights of Afghan women.” , has underlined.

IMPAIRED MENTAL HEALTH

For her part, the president of the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, has indicated that Afghan women face “extreme pressure” due to an oppressive situation, poverty and uncertainty .

“Declining mental health is a top concern for all the women we’ve spoken to and, according to a survey, close to 50 per cent of them know at least one woman or girl who has been suffering from anxiety or depression since August. 2021, and 7.8 percent know a woman or girl who has attempted suicide,” Estrada-Tanck detailed.

In addition, it has warned that this situation gives rise to more domestic violence, forced and child marriages, the sale of children, child labor, human trafficking and dangerous migration.

Estrada-Tanck has placed special emphasis on gender-related murders, which occur both in homes and in public spaces or in detention centers and are committed “with impunity.”