Four years ago, Yalda never imagined that she would not be able to continue her education or achieve her dream of graduating from school.
“My parents would often talk about the Taliban’s first rule [in the 1990s],” recalled Yalda, who requested that her full name not be used for security reasons. “I used to think it was fortunate I wasn’t born during those days. Sadly, we ended up experiencing the same fate.”
Yalda, who was in 10th grade when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, is one of the 1.5 million girls deprived of an education in Afghanistan.
Like most school-age girls, she is now confined to her home.
“I think I live in a prison. I am so hopeless, and wish I had not been born a girl,” Yalda said.
In addition to banning girls from secondary and university education, the Taliban have barred them from working with government and nongovernment organizations, traveling long distances without a close male relative, and going to parks, public baths and salons.
The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, in a statement issued on March 8, condemned the “progressive erasure of women and girls from public life” and called on the Taliban to lift restrictions on Afghan women.
“These restrictions are not only violations of human rights but also barriers to Afghanistan’s progress, deepening poverty and isolation for millions,” said UNAMA’s statement.
The Taliban rejected the U.N. call, saying that women in Afghanistan are given their due rights “in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.”
“At present, Afghan women reside in a state of complete physical and psychological security,” they said.
An Afghan teacher, who did not want her identity to be disclosed for fear of reprisal, told VOA that Afghan women do not feel safe in the country.
“We don’t have safety. I can’t teach anymore. We don’t have any future,” said the teacher. "We are not considered as equal human beings in this country.”
Afghanistan is listed last — 177th out of 177 countries — on Georgetown University's global Women Peace and Security Index of inclusion, justice and security for women.
The teacher said that women in Afghanistan are filled with despair, saying that “any change by the group is unlikely.”
Hoda Jaberian, the UNESCO program coordinator for education emergencies in Paris, called the Taliban’s restriction “a war against women.”
She told VOA that women’s rights in Afghanistan should remain a top priority for the international community.
“This is the responsibility of the international community to ensure that the rights of Afghan women and girls are restored without any delay,” Jaberian said.
No country has yet formally recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Adela Raz, a former Afghan ambassador to the United States, told VOA that one of the main reasons for not recognizing the Taliban’s government is the group’s failure to grant women their rights.
She added that, alongside the United Nations, Muslim-majority nations and neighboring countries should pressure the Taliban to respect women’s rights in Afghanistan.
“The neighboring countries, to an extent, have ties with the Taliban and their position is important” to apply pressure on the Taliban to uphold women’s rights.
Yalda says that she and other girls in Afghanistan, however, are losing hope.
“They [the Taliban] haven’t changed in the past 3½ years. I don’t think they will,” said Yalda.
