A group of Afghan women took to the streets in Kabul demanding their rights be upheld in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, a day after similar protests were held in the western city of Herat.
Bearing placards and raising slogans, the Afghan women demanded that they be allowed to pursue education and hold jobs.
In a video of the rally, a gun-toting Taliban fighter can be seen approaching the women protesters and attempting to stop their sloganeering.
The Taliban, who seized power last month after a lightning military campaign, are in discussions about the formation of a new, “inclusive” government. They have promised a softer brand of rule, pledging that women will be allowed to work but within the limits of Sharia law.
The rebranding is being treated with scepticism, with many women doubting whether they will find a place in Afghanistan’s new administration.
Samira Hamidi, who works for Amnesty International, said in a Twitter thread that the Taliban have asked women workers at banks, offices and media outlets to remain at home, whereas gender-segregated studies have been imposed in schools and universities.
“Women disappeared from political, social & economic spaces. Women-led NGOs are searched, questioned and have been asked to remain shut. Prominent women activists are threatened through calls, messages and social media… In every discussion on future possible governance structure women are ignored. Taliban don’t think women should be part of senior roles in the new government,” said Samira Hamidi.
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When the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, their strict interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law – sometimes brutally enforced – dictated that women could not work and girls were not allowed to attend school.
Women had to cover their face and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes. Those who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban’s religious police.
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