Gender inequality continues to persist throughout many nation-states around the world. Today Afghanistan is ranked as one of the most oppressive nations for women. For the last four decades, the civilians of Afghanistan have experienced anarchy, instability and war.
Nearly 20 years later, in 2021, the Taliban, an extremist terrorist group, returned and seized power. Almost two years later, young Afghan girls and women have been relentlessly trying to protest for equality and justice in education, employment, marriage and fundamental human rights.
Women play a fundamental role in society and lift economies. While the Taliban has claimed that the ban on female education is tentative, history has proven it more definitive. Diplomats, world leaders and the U.N. are fearful about the future of Afghanistan under the Pashtun Taliban regime.
Many refugee councils have advised urgency for an uncertain future of humanitarian work in Afghanistan without the critical role of women. Under the Taliban, women have been banned from many types of employment, including working for national and international aid organizations. According to the head of a major aid agency, “Internal debates and extreme decrees have paralyzed our work” (Egeland 2023).
With the enactment of the new ban in December 2022, malnutrition and death rates have also skyrocketed because the harsh realities of discarding women from an already retrogressive society are starting to show. Without female workers, aid agencies, which have been critical for meeting Afghanistan’s needs for food, shelter and sanitation, cannot function, depriving Afghani citizens of badly needed nutrition.
Today, Afghanistan is the only state that has banned female education. Even before the Taliban’s seizure of power, Afghanistan was struggling to keep girls in school. According to Giving Compass, “In 2017, there were nearly seven girls for every 10 boys enrolled in primary school, dropping to six girls for every 10 boys enrolled in secondary school.” Globally, Afghanistan’s overall female literacy rate is lower than the global average of 53%.
As instability continues to rise in Afghanistan, many fear the inevitable. Jan Englewood, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “All promises were made, and we were misled. What I would say is that the Taliban decrees on female workers, on education for girls, is so wrong for Afghanistan, for the population, for the future, for the economy.”
Over the past few decades, Afghan women have made tremendous strides that have shattered glass ceilings on misogynistic views that have traditionally silenced women. However, women still fall behind men in various sectors, both professionally and personally. According to Giving Compass, “Women in Afghanistan are outnumbered five to one by men in sectors that require higher skills, according to 2021 data.”
Without women contributing to society, the overall economy is about to take a turn for the worse. Peace, stability and a healthy economy are unlikely to be possible without the presence and participation of girls and women in all aspects of life.
According to an analysis from UNICEF, Afghanistan is expected to lose approximately 2.5 percent of its GDP because of this decision. For many single women who are the main providers for their children, being forbidden from entering parks, gyms, corporate settings, mosques, or even religious ceremonies makes it hard to keep a roof over their heads because they can no longer earn an income.
Every day, Afghan women are expected to enact regressive traditions that have led to educational disruptions, discrimination, abuse, and gender violence. Traditionally, promising young Afghan girls are forced into child marriage for being an economic burden on their families. According to Giving Compass, more than “46.1% of women aged 15-49 said they had been subject to physical or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner within the previous year.”
Every year, Afghan women are continuously discouraged from academia. Lack of adequate instruction prevents girls from gaining knowledge, achieving their potential and overall representation. On the contrary, it places them at a high risk of violence, abuse, child marriage and pregnancy. For 24,000 women living in rural areas, “childbirth can, in effect, be a death sentence” according to Dr. Natalia Kanem, head of the UN Population Fund.
Creating a more backward society by stripping women of fundamental rights by ordering them to wear burkas under the sharia law will also continue to worsen women’s rights. Many neighboring Muslim-majority countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia have condemned the Taliban, claiming that the leadership should consider the country’s economic state in their recent rulings. Two direct aids to the Taliban have claimed that ministers would want women to resume operations at NGOs, but overall this decision relies on Kandahar leadership.
As one of the worst countries in the world for gender equality, the situation is worsening for girls and women under Taliban rule. Especially because Afghanistan is a developing country, forbidding women from becoming independent and self-sufficient will cause more harm to society through the collapse of humanitarian aid agencies that relied on female workers. In the long run, keeping girls from education will also hurt Afghanistan’s economy. Those of us who are fortunate to reside in the United States can help by spreading the word about the importance of women’s rights in Afghanistan, welcoming any refugees in our neighborhoods or campus or donating to a reputable aid organization.
