Afghan Women’s Freedom Movement: Women’s struggle continues despite Taliban restrictions

The Afghan Women’s Freedom Movement announced on Wednesday that despite the Taliban’s efforts to exclude women from social spheres, the voices of Afghan women have not been silenced and that the struggle for freedom, justice, and human dignity continues, according to the Women’s News Agency (NUJINHA).

The statement came as the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan approaches. The Afghan Women’s Freedom Movement described August 5 as the day the Taliban sought to exclude Afghan women from society, but “failed to silence their voices.” The movement noted that millions of women and young women in Afghanistan have been deprived over the past five years of their rights to education, work, freedom, and participation in social life.

The movement also affirmed that it would stand against what it described as “gender apartheid, discrimination, and the systematic exclusion of women,” and would continue its struggle to achieve freedom, justice, and human dignity. It stressed its determination to continue on this path, saying: “We will not remain silent because the voice of Afghan women is the voice of freedom.”

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021. Since then, it has imposed wide-ranging restrictions on the rights and freedoms of women and girls, including banning girls from education beyond the sixth grade, closing universities to women, restricting employment opportunities, shutting down numerous civil society organizations, and limiting women’s presence in public spaces.

These policies have drawn widespread and strong condemnation from protesting women, human rights organizations, and the international community, with many international organizations describing them as an example of “gender apartheid.”