Taliban Don't See Women As Human Beings, Says Malala Yousafzai

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on Muslim leaders to challenge the Taliban government and its repressive policies towards Afghan women.

"The Taliban do not see women as human beings in Afghanistan," Yousafzai said at an international conference on girls' education in Islamabad.

Addressing Muslim leaders at the meeting, which was attended by dozens of government officials and religious scholars from Muslim-majority countries, Yousafzai said that the Taliban's policies, which include preventing girls and women from accessing education and work, are "not Islamic at all".

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban members at the age of 15 for a campaign to support girls' education, and who later left Pakistan, said on Sunday in Islamabad that she was happy to be back home. She has only returned to Pakistan a handful of times since the 2012 attack, after making her first return in 2018.

‘Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan’

Malala Yousafzai said on Sunday that the Taliban have re-established a "gender apartheid system" by imposing restrictions on women and girls.

The Taliban "punish women and girls who dare to violate the group's vague laws by beating, detaining and torturing them", she said.

Malala added that the Taliban "cover up their crimes under cultural and religious justifications", but in reality, the group's policies are "contrary to everything that our faith dictates".

Taliban officials were invited to the meeting, which was organised by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the government of Pakistan, and the World Islamic League, but did not attend.

Conference participants included dozens of government officials and scientists from Muslim-majority countries who advocated for girls' education.

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, the group's rule has not been recognised by any country. Western powers have conditioned the recognition of the Taliban government on a change in the group's policies, especially with regard to the situation of women and girls.

"Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are completely banned from studying beyond the sixth grade," Yousafzai said on Sunday.