Over the last three years, the Taliban has been dehumanizing women and girls, removing their most fundamental rights to the point where now even the sound of a woman’s voice outside the home has been outlawed in Afghanistan. In late August, all Taliban decrees restricting women’s rights were laid out in a 114-page manifesto.
In response, the United States along with eleven of its fellow Security Council member states issued a joint statement condemning “in the strongest terms the Taliban’s continued systemic gender discrimination and oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan. ... [T]his new directive confirms and extends wide-ranging and far-reaching restrictions on personal conduct and provides inspectors with broad powers of enforcement,” the statement noted.
The Security Council has discussed the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover three years ago, and has raised a united voice on multiple occasions. Among others, the Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2681 in April 2023 to call for the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan.
The United States and its fellow signatories “urge the Taliban to swiftly reverse all the policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The Taliban must listen and respond to the voices of Afghan women and girls by respecting their rights to education and for women, to work as well as the freedoms of expression and movement. Such rights are a prerequisite for a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, the statement noted.
All States and organizations should use their influence to promote an urgent reversal of these policies and practices. The Taliban’s actions only undermine the international community’s efforts to engage with them.
Afghanistan has committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is a party to a number of human rights treaties, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. “Afghanistan’s obligations under international law must be fulfilled,” the joint statement urged.
“Afghan citizens, especially women and girls, have suffered for far too long,” the statement noted. “Day by day, Afghan women and girls lose their opportunities and hope for their future. This is unacceptable. We are committed to doing our utmost to holistically address their plight and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
