Though the Taliban have promised to be more moderate toward women than during their 1996-2001 regime, recent reports demonstrate they may be clamping down further on women’s rights than even their own concerning public guidance indicates.
On Dec. 26, the Taliban said Afghan women are not allowed to travel more than 45 kilometers without a male relative. On Jan. 4 around Herat, two women were reportedly pulled from rickshaws by Taliban members, who asked where the women’s male relatives were. The women were then beaten for traveling alone, according to secondhand information relayed to Nasrin, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. The Priority 1 visa applicant, who is now unable to work as a hairdresser and activist, tells me she is not sure whether these women had traveled more than 45 kilometers to reach their healthcare providers.
Two weeks ago, Zahra, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, left her safe house with her adult daughter to purchase food for her family. According to the family member who related the story, the women were close to home and not in violation of the Taliban’s guidance. But because they were unaccompanied by a male escort, they were beaten nonetheless. Now Zahra, a Priority 1 visa applicant and the once well-respected principal of a girls high school, has moved in with relatives and no longer feels safe leaving the house.
Najiba, a Hazara woman who asked that I change her name for her protection, was once a prominent journalist, women’s rights activist, and martial artist. After the Taliban tortured her father in retaliation for her high-profile activities, Najiba became her family’s only money-earner. Two months ago, when the Taliban entered Najiba’s family’s home at 1 a.m. searching for her, she escaped through the roof and hid in a neighbor’s home. Because she had burned her documents, the Taliban were unable to find incriminating information. Without income or security, Najiba changes her position often, cloaked in a hijab and a mask. Recent Taliban assaults on unaccompanied women put her in an increasingly unstable situation.
Maryam, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, tells me her life is “demolished” under the Taliban. Prior to August, Maryam worked for a company that provided internships and other opportunities to Afghan women. When the Taliban came, Maryam lost her work and her salary. Four months ago, she lost her husband when he left the house to buy food and never returned home. Though she is not certain of his fate, Maryam believes her husband was disappeared — a too-common fate of former government employees and affiliates of coalition forces such as Maryam’s husband, who distributed food and oil to U.S. bases.
Now Maryam and her four children have moved in with her father-in-law. Unable to work or send her children to school, Maryam tells me she has no future in Afghanistan, but she cannot leave the country because she cannot acquire a visa.
Desperation is likely what motivated one Afghan mother to flee the country in late December. As she attempted to cross the border illegally from Iran into Turkey on Jan. 1, the mother froze to death. She was found with bags on her feet, while her two children, who survived, wore her socks on their hands.
Afghan women have lost access to education, employment, and independence under the Taliban. Though much evidence of the Taliban’s harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islam is quashed by their media crackdown, many brave Afghan women continue to tell their stories. The Western world must listen and act.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
