A Worsening Situation for Afghan Women
Last month, the Taliban regime officially prevented girls from attending high school. Open Doors partner Hana Nasri* joined us to talk about what this means for the situation for Afghan women and how best we can stand with them amidst the disappointing developments.
A Broken Promise
The Taliban promised the opening of schools for girls on March 21 – a promise lauded by the international community, as it was an assurance that the new government would not revert to their old ways of not allowing women to study or work.
On March 23, just hours after schools officially opened, the Ministry of Education overturned their previous decision – secondary schools for Afghan girls were suddenly closed to the heartbreak and dismay of thousands of young girls and parents in the country.
Open Doors local partner Hana Nasri says this isn’t surprising at all, and regardless of whether schools open or not, the Taliban’s ideology is aimed to disempower women. It’s a worsening situation for all Afghan women.
“The death sentence to any woman having a professional career was passed the day the Taliban came to power. Regardless of whether schools open or not, the curriculum to be used (if the schools are opened) will be a curriculum meant to brainwash them and keep them hidden, debilitating them and slowing their growth down. The idea is to paralyze them.”
“If you give a woman the ability to leave her house to go to a school building, you give her agency,” continues Nasri. “So even if her brother wraps her up in a burqa and takes her from her front door to the school – even if these are the two doors this woman will ever pass through – it will be empowering for her, and the Taliban doesn’t want that. The Taliban wants to rob women of any agency.”
A Worsening Situation
Afghan women are at a standstill. Those who remain in the country have had to deal with the reinstated anti-women policies of the Taliban, such as being limited in their public appearances without a male chaperone, staying within segregated public spaces, and now preventing teenagers from attending school.
“The women are confused, angry, disappointed, and afraid, both in-country and out of the country,” says Nasri. “Those who are in the country contend with the restrictions being imposed on them, while women who have fled to neighboring countries as refugees have put their lives on hold.”
Nasri says though the future for believers – especially for women – will always be bleak as long as the TB is in power. Despite this, they choose to remain hopeful, recalling what Farah*, a believer in Afghanistan once told her.
Since the TB took over, Farah has been separated physically from her husband. Farah doesn’t know where he is, but she stands strongly in faith. She shares: “Times are very difficult and I miss my husband. We try to talk as often as we can in a safe way. Sometimes, I wake up absolutely sure that he must have died. In those moments, I have to decide whether I will live the rest of my life as a rejected widow or a faithful child of God.”
Remaining Strong
“Pray that the women will be sustained in their hopefulness because it’s very easy to despair. Pray that God will put a new song in their heart. Pray for their good health in the midst of poverty, lack of food, and lack of clean water.”
