On International Women’s Day, the Taliban issued a statement asserting their commitment to safeguarding the rights of Afghan women.
Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on his official X account, stating that the ”Islamic Emirate assumes full responsibility for the provision and safeguarding of the rights of Afghan women.”
Without directly referencing International Women’s Day, Mujahid said that dignity, honor, and legal rights for women remain a priority for the Taliban government.
He claimed that Afghan women ”live in security, both physically and psychologically”and that their ”fundamental rights” — such as autonomy in marital decisions, dowry entitlements, and inheritance — are protected.
Ongoing global criticism
The Taliban’s statement comes as the United Nations continues to denounce the severe restrictions on Afghan women.
Since seizing control in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping bans on education and employment for women. Girls were barred from secondary education, and later, from attending and teaching at Kabul University.
In August 2023, the Vice and Virtue Ministry expanded restrictions, prohibiting women’s voices in public and mandating full face coverings outside the home.
On Saturday, the UN renewed its call for these bans to be lifted. ”The erasure of women and girls from public life cannot be ignored,” said Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Alison Davidian, special representative for UN Women Afghanistan, added, “We must stand with Afghan women as if our own lives depend on it — because they do.”
Mujahid emphasized distinctions in Afghan and Western notions of women’s rights. He said ”Afghan women’s rights are situated within the specific context of an Islamic and Afghan society, which exhibits distinct divergences from Western societies and their cultural paradigms.”
International pressure and Taliban’s isolation
The Taliban remain globally isolated, with no official recognition as running Afghanistan’s government due to their policies on women. In January, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials for their role in repressing Afghan women.
Last Friday, Unesco hosted a high-level conference on women and girls in Afghanistan, featuring activists, parliamentarians, and rights experts. They included Hamida Aman, founder of the women-only station Radio Begum, former Afghan lawmaker Fawzia Koofi and human rights expert Richard Bennett, who has been barred from entering Afghanistan.
In response, Saif ul-Islam Khyber, a spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry, dismissed such gatherings, calling them an ”exposure of the hypocrisy of certain organizations and European Union foundations.”
