Unimaginable oppression: Afghanistan five years after the Taliban's rise to power
The radical Islamic regime is leading a policy of "gender apartheid" against women and has abandoned all its promises to change its ways.
News in brief: The Taliban marked five years of rule over the weekend on the day of victory over the West. In half a decade, Afghanistan has become one of the most oppressive and failed countries in the world. Almost all freedoms have been stripped from the country's women, including the right to leave the house freely and the right to attend school. About 10% of the country's children suffer from severe malnutrition. No country maintains full relations with the Taliban, but China and Russia cooperate with it.
Five years have passed since the dramatic images of American forces fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban's resurgence. Despite the radical Islamic regime's initial promises to lead a more liberal line compared to its policy in the late 90s, strict restrictions on individual rights were quickly imposed. Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls are forbidden to attend school beyond the sixth grade. Women are forbidden to work in most places, they are required to cover their faces in public, and are not allowed to travel long distances without a male escort.
At the same time, violence against women has received legal sanction with the approval of a new decree allowing men to beat their wives, as long as they do not break bones or cause visible wounds. Another decree makes it significantly difficult for women to divorce their husbands, while simultaneously abolishing the minimum age for marriage. According to the UN, half of Afghan women currently leave their homes only once or twice a month — an isolation that leads to a mental health crisis.
"It is hell to be a woman in Afghanistan," John Sopko, the former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, told CNN.
Various experts have defined the current situation under Taliban rule as gender apartheid. Over the weekend, the regime celebrated its return to power in 2021, and outside the former US embassy in Kabul, Taliban armored vehicles passed by as part of the day of victory over the West. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's Interior Minister, said in a filmed speech that their return to power was the result of morale, courage, and divine assistance.
While the regime consolidates its power, the world is showing less and less interest in what is happening inside Afghanistan. Humanitarian aid, required by about 45% of the population, has been cut dramatically by international donors. One in ten Afghan children suffers from severe malnutrition, according to a report published this week by the charity Save the Children. Despite the heavy diplomatic isolation, the radical Islamic regime has recorded progress in this area: Russia became the first country to recognize the Taliban government last year, and China also deepened its economic ties with Afghanistan.
