Sat Mar 08 13:28:38 UTC 2025: ## Taliban Claim Afghan Women’s Rights Protected Amidst UN Condemnation

**Kabul, Afghanistan** – The Taliban asserted on International Women’s Day that Afghan women’s rights are protected and that they live in security, directly contradicting the United Nations’ condemnation of ongoing employment and education bans. While Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement claiming the safeguarding of women’s dignity and legal rights under Islamic law, the UN strongly criticized the restrictions imposed since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover.

These restrictions include the barring of women and girls from education beyond the sixth grade, most employment opportunities, and many public spaces. Last August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry further enacted laws prohibiting women from having their voices heard or showing their faces uncovered in public.

The UN’s mission in Afghanistan, led by Roza Otunbayeva, reiterated its call for the Taliban to lift these oppressive measures, highlighting the unacceptable erasure of women and girls from public life. Alison Davidian, special representative for UN Women Afghanistan, emphasized the international community’s responsibility to stand with Afghan women, declaring the current situation intolerable.

The Taliban’s actions have resulted in significant isolation from the West, with the international community withholding official government recognition. The Afghanistan Journalists Support Organisation reported a drastic decline in female media professionals, from 2,756 before 2021 to a mere 893 currently employed, highlighting the Taliban’s systematic effort to remove women from the public sphere. Nine provinces now have no female journalists at all.

A recent UNESCO conference in Paris addressed the plight of Afghan women and girls, featuring prominent Afghan women and human rights experts. In response, the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Ministry spokesman, Saif ul-Islam Khyber, dismissed the conference as hypocritical. The stark contrast between the Taliban’s claims and the reality on the ground underscores the ongoing crisis facing Afghan women.

Read More