Taliban claims Afghan women’s rights are protected despite restrictions on education and employment

The Taliban stated on International Women’s Day, claiming that the rights of Afghan women are protected and they live in security despite the UN condemning its ban on work and education for women.

In a post on X, the Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said “The dignity, honor, and legal rights of women were a priority for the Islamic emirate, the term they use to describe their government.

“In accordance with Islamic law and the culture and traditions of Afghan society, the fundamental rights of Afghan women have been secured. However, it should not be forgotten that the rights of Afghan women are being discussed within an Islamic and Afghan society, which has clear differences from Western societies and their culture,” he said.

He, however, made no mention of International Women’s Day which is celebrated on March 8.

"Afghan women lived in security, both physically and psychologically,” he added.

Soon after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they banned education for women after 6th grade and barred them from most of the employment opportunities and entry into many public places.

Last August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces outside the home.

On March 8, the UN renewed its call to lift bans on women in Afghanistan.

“The erasure of women and girls from public life cannot be ignored,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan.

“We remain committed to investing in their resilience and leadership, as they are key to Afghanistan’s future,” she said.

Last month, the Taliban, who had imposed a ban on the country’s women-run radio station called ‘Radio Begum’, lifted the suspension on its “repeated request" and after it made certain commitments to authorities.

Special Representative for UN Women Afghanistan, Alison Davidian, also said the world could not accept a future for Afghan women that would never be tolerated elsewhere.

“Our response to their erasure is a test of our commitment to women and girls everywhere,” said Davidian.

“We must stand with Afghan women as if our own lives depend on it – because they do.”

On March 7, UNESCO hosted a high-level conference on women and girls in Afghanistan.

The event was hosted in Paris where Hamida Aman, the founder of Radio Begum, Fawzia Khoofi, a parliamentarian from the former Western-backed government, and rights experts including Richard Bennett, who is barred from entering Afghanistan had participated.

The spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry Saif ul-Islam Khyber, in an apparent dig at the event, said recent international conferences held under the name of women’s rights exposed the hypocrisy of certain organizations and European Union foundations.

The Taliban has remained distant from the West and does not hold international recognition as the country’s official government due to its restrictions on women and girls.