The Taliban have a long history of abusing women. Government records show that the Taliban committed horrific acts of violence against women, including abduction, rape, murder, and forced marriage. Yet, as the Taliban became aware of the public outcry on the history of their treatment of women, they have insisted they have changed. Amid the chaos of the Taliban retaking power in Afghanistan, the organization has had its own #MeToo moment.
With a horrific reputation of these abuses against women, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid attempted some public relations damage control. He said the Taliban would respect the rights of women this time around. He said that unlike the previous time of Taliban control, women would be “very active in society but in the framework of Islam.”
“If [the Taliban] want any respect, if they want any recognition by the international community, they have to be very conscious of the fact that we will be watching how women and girls and, more broadly, the civilian community is treated by them as they try to form a government,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States’s ambassador to the United Nations, told MSNBC on Tuesday.
At the same time, the Taliban were assuring that women will be allowed “to leave homes alone, and they will have access to education and work, but they will have to wear the hijab,” a Taliban spokesperson told Reuters. Unlike their previous rule, the Taliban were #MeToo’d into issuing a statement echoing woke sensibilities.
But don’t expect their deeds to match. As Mujahid promised a more woke and progressive Taliban, the group was recruiting women for forced marriages — some as young as 13 years old. They might have released a #MeToo-style concession to news agencies publicly, but the core of their organization will keep their toxic culture of abusing women. They also reportedly killed a woman for not wearing a burqa on Tuesday.
This is something that should gravely concern the Biden administration and the international community. Statements such as Thomas-Greenfield’s come across as naive or incompetent. There should not be any hope for change regarding the Taliban. The Taliban should not be trusted in any way. They have always viciously abused women and, most likely, always will. No amount of international pressure or woke feminist movements will change that.
The Taliban have always been a dangerous organization — even more dangerous when it comes to women’s rights. They will not acquiesce to Western ideals of gender equality and women empowerment or submit to #MeToo. As long as the Taliban are in charge, women will always be second-class citizens. Women will always be in danger of harm — especially if they fail to meet Taliban standards.
