Women are said to have more freedom than expected under the Taliban. At least that’s what the Taliban spokesmen say. At the moment, women have to stay in their homes. The Taliban justifies this with “not very well trained” fighters.
After taking power, the Taliban in Afghanistan are officially more moderate than initially feared. Women should definitely be given rights and be able to go to work and school. But before that supposedly happens, they should stay at home – at least for the time being, as a Taliban spokesman said aloud. Why? Because some of the militant Islamists have not yet learned not to hurt them.
Taliban have “no problem with working women”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called this a “temporary” measure to protect women until the Taliban can ensure their safety. “We are concerned that our troops, who are new and not very well trained, may abuse women,” said Mujahid. “We don’t want our powers, God forbid, to harm or harass women.”
Women should stay at home until there is a new procedure and their salaries are paid at home. Ahmadullah Waseq, deputy of the Taliban’s culture committee, told the New York Times that the Taliban had “no problem with working women” as long as they were wearing hijabs. However, he added, “For now we are asking them to stay home until the situation has normalized.”
Women had to stay at home under the first Taliban rule
During the first Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, women were not allowed to work outside their home. They were also forbidden to leave the house without a male guardian and then only in full veil. Girls and women were not allowed to go to school.
Heather Barr, assistant director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times that this kind of rationale for the Taliban to protect women was nothing new. The Taliban made similar claims when they were last in power.
“The explanation was that the security was not good and they were waiting for it to get better and for women to have more freedom,” she said. “But of course that moment never came in the years they were in power.”
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