Experts decry measures to ‘steadily erase’ Afghan women and girls from public life

The radical of astir 3 twelve Human Rights Council-appointed experts highlighted a “wave of measures” specified arsenic barring women from returning to their jobs, requiring a antheral comparative to travel them successful nationalist spaces, prohibiting women from utilizing nationalist transport connected their own, arsenic good arsenic imposing a strict formal codification connected women and girls.

“Taken together, these policies represent a corporate punishment of women and girls, grounded connected gender-based bias and harmful practices,” the experts said.

These policies person besides affected the quality of women to enactment and to marque a living, pushing them further into poverty.

“Women heads of households are particularly hard hit, with their suffering compounded by the devastating consequences of the humanitarian crisis in the country”, they explained. 

The experts besides noted the accrued hazard of exploitation of women and girls, including of trafficking for the purposes of kid and forced marriage, arsenic good arsenic intersexual exploitation and forced labour.

Education

The Taliban, who became de facto rulers of Afghanistan aft taking the superior Kabul past August, besides proceed to contradict the cardinal close to secondary and tertiary education, arguing that women and men indispensable beryllium segregated and that pistillate students person to abide by a circumstantial formal code.

As a result, astir girls’ secondary schools stay closed. The immense bulk of girls who should beryllium attending grades 7-12 are being denied entree to school, based solely connected their gender.

The experts denounce an “attempt to steadily erase women and girls from nationalist life”, pointing retired the closure of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the concern of the premises of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

According to them, assorted work providers supporting survivors of gender-based unit person unopen down for fearfulness of retribution. The aforesaid happened with galore women’s shelters. 

Specialized courts and prosecution units – liable for enforcing the 2009 Law connected the Elimination of Violence Against Women – person besides been discontinued, and galore women and and societal workers are being prevented from working.

At hazard groups

The experts person peculiar concerns for women quality rights defenders, civilian nine activists and leaders, judges and prosecutors, information forces, erstwhile authorities employees, and journalists. 

According to them, each these women are being exposed to harassment, threats of unit and existent bodily harm, and their civic abstraction has been severely eroded. Many person been forced to permission the state arsenic a result.

The experts are besides “deeply troubled” by reports of peaceful protesters having often been beaten, ill-treated, threatened, and successful confirmed instances, detained arbitrarily. 

These concerns are exacerbated successful the cases of women from ethnic, spiritual oregon linguistic minorities specified arsenic the Hazara, Tajik, Hindu and different communities, whose differences oregon visibility marque them adjacent much vulnerable.

Women successful a waiting country of a session successful Afghanistan. , by © UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

The radical is “extremely disturbed” by the reports of extrajudicial killings and forced displacement of taste and spiritual minorities, specified arsenic the Hazara, which “would suggest deliberate efforts to target, ban, and adjacent destruct them from the country.”

International plea

The experts reiterated their telephone to the planetary assemblage to measurement up urgently needed humanitarian assistance and to proceed to clasp the de facto authorities accountable for continuous violations. 

“Any humanitarian response, betterment oregon improvement efforts successful the country, are condemned to nonaccomplishment if pistillate staff, women-led organizations, and women successful wide - peculiarly those from number communities - proceed to beryllium excluded from afloat information successful the needs assessments arsenic good arsenic successful the decision-making, design, implementation and monitoring of these interventions,” the experts said.

Special Rapporteurs and autarkic experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and study back on a circumstantial quality rights taxable oregon a state situation. The positions are honorary, and the experts are not paid for their work.