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3 min read . Updated: 23 Aug 2021, 11:30 AM IST Taliban takeover has stirred concerns that the group will impose its draconian interpretation of Sunni Islam on women and girls
In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, fears are growing that Afghan women will suffer the sort of harsh treatment they encountered during the 1990s, when the Taliban imposed their hard-line interpretation of Sunni Islam on them, a form of oppression that helped make Afghanistan a pariah state at the time.
What is the official position of the Taliban toward women?
Since seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have tried to project a more moderate image than when they were last in power in the 1990s. At their first press conference, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban, pledged to respect the rights of women within the limits of Islam, but didn’t elaborate on what those limits are.
“We would like to assure the international community that there’s not going to be any discrimination against women," he said. “But of course within the framework that we have. Our women are Muslim."
He said women would be allowed to work and receive an education, but didn’t offer specific promises.
The possible range of restrictions—on women’s dress, on the range of jobs that will be open to women and on the extent to which gender segregation will be imposed—are causing many inside and outside Afghanistan to fear the worst for women’s freedoms.
How are the Taliban behaving toward women?
In some areas of Afghanistan that fell to Taliban control in recent weeks, the group imposed restrictions on women. Women were banned from leaving the house without a male relative and forced to wear burqas, which cover a woman from head to toe. Some commanders demanded families hand over unmarried women to marry their fighters. In Kabul, images of women outside beauty parlors have been painted over or ripped off. Female teachers were barred from teaching to boys. Female journalists employed by state TV, now under Taliban control, were stopped from going to work.
How was Afghanistan for women when the Taliban were in power in the 1990s?
The Taliban government’s oppression of women was a big reason Afghanistan was a pariah state in the 1990s. Girl schools were closed, women were banned from most professions, and mostly confined to their homes. Outdoors they were forced to wear burqas.
What is Shariah law?
Shariah law is the legal system that is derived from the Quran as well as other holy Islamic texts. It lays out the rules for Muslim life, ranging from how to pray to charitable acts and fasting. Religious scholars use the texts to derive answers on specific questions that aren’t clearly addressed in the holy texts. But interpretations of Islamic law vary widely.
Saudi Arabia and Iran impose their own versions of Islamic law, including dress codes for women and gender segregation in some public places.
The Taliban follow a particularly strict interpretation of Sunni Islam. But they haven’t elaborated on their current interpretation of Islamic law as applied to women.
What are the U.S. and its allies doing to support Afghan women?
Promoting greater gender equality was a key goal of the U.S.-led military intervention. While Afghanistan remains deeply conservative, particularly in rural areas, huge progress was made over the past two decades. Girls’ schools opened, women enrolled in universities and pursued careers in fields including politics, journalism and even the military.
Women who came of age in big cities such as Kabul during the U.S. occupation benefited the most from these advances and have the most to lose under the new Taliban regime.
Now, the U.S. and its allies have appealed to the Taliban to guarantee the rights of Afghan women and girls, but have limited ability to make sure this happens. In a joint statement, they said they are willing to support Afghan women with humanitarian aid.
The Taliban want legitimacy and money. The international community could use that as leverage to secure promises from the Taliban on women’s rights.
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