Critical Situation of Afghan Women's Rights Should Be Global Focal Point, Says UN

Alison Davidian, the United Nations Special Representative for Women in Afghanistan, has declared that advocating for Afghan women's rights is integral to the global struggle for all women's rights.

On International Women's Day, March 8, Davidian emphasised that the plight of Afghan women and girls must remain a focal point for international attention and intervention.

She pointed out that the opportunities for Afghan women and girls to escape war, poverty, and isolation are alarmingly diminishing.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a statement on March 8, reinforcing the call to remove restrictions on women. It highlighted that Afghanistan faces a greater risk of deepening poverty and further isolation if these restrictions are not lifted.

In the statement, Roza Otunbayeva, head of UNAMA, argued for an increase in investment in Afghan women.

She remarked that the present circumstances in Afghanistan are severely and deliberately damaging Afghan women and girls, thereby obstructing the nation's path to sustainable peace and prosperity.

Otunbayeva also voiced concerns over the Taliban's recent arbitrary detentions of women and girls, allegedly for non-compliance with the group's dress code, pushing them towards more isolation.

The United Nations has stated that the Taliban's constraints on Afghan women breach Afghanistan's commitments to international human rights standards.

The UN's statement disclosed that currently, over 12 million women in Afghanistan are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Even as the world marks International Women's Day, under the Taliban's rule of over two years, women have been stripped of numerous rights via a series of decrees.

The Taliban has barred women and girls from attending universities and schools beyond the sixth grade, in addition to imposing wide-ranging restrictions on their employment, mobility, and travel, drastically curtailing their participation in public life.

Furthermore, Afghan women have sporadically staged protests in both public and private spheres against the Taliban's oppressive policies, leading to several arrests by the regime.

Numerous organisations, specialists, and human rights advocates argue that the Taliban's discriminatory practices against Afghan women amount to "gender apartheid" and are calling for its official acknowledgment.