Taliban gunmen beat up female protesters and fired into the air on Saturday to break up a rare demonstration in the Afghan capital, Kabul, days before the rally. first memory about the group’s return to power.
About 40 women marched on the education ministry in Kabul, chanting “bread, work and freedom”. Despite the promises made when it regained power, the Taliban Limiting the rights of Afghan womenincluding banning female high school students from attending school.
According to AFP news agency, some protesters who took shelter in nearby shops were chased by Taliban fighters and beaten with rifles.
The brave women of #Afghanistan continue to protest the strict rule of the Taliban in the streets of Kabul pic.twitter.com/D4uzrGqvmH
– Oliver Marsden (@OliverGMarsden) August 13, 2022
Protesters carried a banner that read “August 15 is a bad day” as they demanded the right to work and participate in politics.
“Justice, justice. We are fed up with ignorance,” they chanted, many not wearing face coverings.
Zholia Parsi, one of the organizers of the march, said: “Unfortunately, the Taliban from the intelligence agency came and opened fire in the air.
First they deny basic rights like #education and the right to assemble afterwards when #women do #Demonstration it is considered a provocation and is worth firing live rounds at. Sad state of #Afghanistan.
– Obaidullah Baheer (@ObaidullaBaheer) August 13, 2022
“They dispersed the girls, tore up our banners and confiscated the cell phones of many of the girls.”
But protester Munisa Mubariz pledged to continue fighting for women’s rights.
“If the Taliban want to silence this voice, it is not possible. We will protest from our homes,” she said.
Several journalists covering the rally – the first by women in months – were also defeated by Taliban fighters, an AFP reporter said.
‘Make women invisible’
While the Taliban government has allowed and even promoted some protests against the United States, they have refused to allow any protests by women since they returned to power.
After taking control last year, the Taliban have returned to promises of women’s rights and media freedom, recalling memories of its draconian rule from 1996 to 2001.
Tens of thousands of girls have closed from high schoolswhile women are barred from returning to many government jobs.
Women are also prohibited from traveling alone on long trips and can only visit gardens and public parks in the capital on designated days, when men are not allowed.
In May, the country’s supreme leader and leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhunzada, ordered women completely cover yourself in publicincluding their faces – ideally with a full cover.
The United Nations and human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the Taliban government for imposing restrictions on women.
Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul during a visit in May.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday called on the Taliban to “reverse their appalling and erroneous decision” to ban women from school.
“This will send a message that the Taliban are willing to reconsider their most serious actions,” Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at the human rights group, said in a statement.
Some Afghan women initially resisted the curbs, organizing small protests.
But the Taliban quickly rounded up the protest organizers, detaining them while denying they had been detained.
An International Labor Organization (ILO) study this year noted a disproportionate drop in women’s employment in Afghanistan – 16% in the months immediately following the Taliban takeover. In contrast, men’s employment fell by 6%.
Before the Taliban took over, women made up 22% of the Afghan workforce. While the number is still bleak, it reflects years of social progress in a deeply patriarchal and conservative society like Afghanistan.
Working women in Afghanistan are also vulnerable to the unemployment shock caused by the ongoing economic crisis, the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s mobility, and pervasive patriarchy.
While the Afghan economy has been hit hard by Western sanctions against the Taliban, women-centred businesses are among the hardest hit due to the additional restrictions. for women.
A recent World Bank survey noted that 42 percent of women-owned businesses in Afghanistan have temporarily closed compared to 26 percent of men-owned businesses.
Additionally, about 83% of female entrepreneurs said that they expected to experience a revenue loss over the next six months, forcing them to engage in coping mechanisms such as downsizing, which typically consists largely of employees. women.
Journalism ‘bleed to death’
Many media outlets have shut down and hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs over the past year, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
RSF director Christian Mihr said in a statement Friday: “The press in Afghanistan is bleeding to death.
She added: “The Taliban have enacted many laws restricting press freedom and encouraging the suppression and intimidation of the media and journalists.
According to RSF, a third of the 550 media facilities operating as of August 15, 2021 – the day the Taliban regained control after more than 20 years – have been closed.
