I believe in the power of the voice of women.

Malala Yousafzai

The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and the fact that the Taliban were able to establish quick control of major regions of the country including the capital city of Kabul earlier this week has been headline news. The finger-pointing and criticisms of President Biden’s decision abound, but perhaps it was time to end the “longest war” in our nation’s history. According to research conducted by Brown University, 69,000 Afghan security forces have died since 2001, 51,000 of them civilians and militants. Of the 3,500 coalition soldiers killed, about two-thirds of them have been Americans. The estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the US has debt-financed over the last two decades is estimated to be $2 trillion, and interest costs are estimated to reach $6.5 trillion by 2050.

Now, with the Taliban in control, what will happen to the women of Afghanistan?

As early as July, when US troops were returning home, Taliban insurgents seized territory from government forces across the country. According to one source, Taliban fighters walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women to leave. The armed men escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs at the bank. They explained that male relatives could take their place, but the women were no longer allowed to work there.  There are reports of Young and educated Afghan women burning their degree certificates and diplomas so that they won’t be targeted. Many of these women were just toddlers when the US first occupied Afghanistan, and may not remember what it was like under Sharia law. But they know the history of the Taliban, and that is what is so tragic.

One young university student reported that on the day the Taliban entered Kabul, men were standing in the streets, making fun of girls and women, and laughing at them. She stated that one man called out “Go and put on your chadari [burqa],” and another shouted, “It is your last days of being out on the streets.” A third man told the women “I will marry four of you in one day.”

This same student explained that she had worked so hard to become the person that she is and that she feels like the victim of a political war started by men. She explained that she feels like she cannot be herself under Taliban rule, that she can no longer laugh out loud, work at her job, finish her degree, listen to her favorite music, meet with friends in a café, or wear her favorite clothes and makeup in public.   

We have all heard of Sharia law, which prohibits women from working outside the home, from getting an advanced degree, from leaving the house without a male guardian. Women who do go out are required to wear burkas, the traditional modesty garment that drapes the body from head to toe, rendering a woman fully covered in public.

On Monday, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was brutally shot and wounded at age 15 by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan, is worried about the safety of women and girls in Afghanistan. She said in an interview, “I had the opportunity to talk to a few activists in Afghanistan, including women’s rights activists and they are sharing their concern that they are not sure what their life is going to be like.” She added, “A lot of them remember what was happening in 1996-2001 time and they are deeply worried about their safety, their rights their protection, they are worried about their access to school.”

Malala said that “we have already seen news reports that many girls have been sent back from university. A lot of them have been asked to get married at age 15, 12.” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen says the rights of women and minorities will be respected “as per Afghan norms and Islamic values,” and the Taliban has declared an amnesty across Afghanistan, saying it wants women to join its new government.

The claims by the Taliban that women’s rights will be respected is a big change from 20 years ago. Perhaps the Taliban is trying to be accepted as the legitimate government of Afghanistan? In an interview with the BBC, teacher and human rights activist, Pashtana Durrani, stated that it is unclear what the Taliban means when it talks about women’s rights. She asks do they mean the right to work, the right to an education, the right to freely leave the home? She stated that it is not clear whether they mean all or only some of those rights.

After US troops arrived in 2001, there was a push from local governments to improve women’s rights, leading to legal protections. In 2009, the Elimination of Violence Against Women law criminalized battery, rape, and forced marriages, and made it illegal to prevent women and girls from working or attending a university. The Afghan Constitution stated that women must be represented in government and that they have the right to vote.

All that may be at stake now. Reports from around the country reveal something different. In July, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported that in Taliban-controlled areas, TV was banned, male teachers and students were ordered to wear turbans and beards, and women had been ordered not to venture out without a male guardian.

As the Taliban seize control of the government, I hope that the world does not forget about the very real plight that thousands of Afghani women and girls face in the coming months.