Afghan Women Behind Bars Unreported: Women’s Rights Watch

Written By: Tabasum Nasiry

Heather Barr, the head of the Women’s Rights Watch, has stated that a society without the presence of women is “discouraging.” According to her, many women in Afghanistan are behind bars, while only a small number of them have been reported.

The head of the Women’s Rights Watch, on Thursday, stated in a report published on her social media platform X that these women have been detained “arbitrarily.”

She called on the global community to stand alongside the women who risk their lives in Afghanistan to raise their voices.

Earlier, members of the Afghan women’s activists’ movement, including Neda Parwani with child and husband, Manizha Seddiqi, were detained by the Taliban forces.

A statement from Human Rights Watch, citing a family member of the detained women, mentioned that they often hide the true situation of the detained women in the hope of “freeing the detainees.”

Rina Amiri, the U.S. Special Representative for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, and Richard Bent, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, have both called for the release of women’s rights activists in response to their detention.

Previously, the “Women’s Freedom Protest Movement” also protested against the detention of women’s rights activists and emphasized that Afghanistan, to flourish and be stable, needs to establish a democratic and people-driven government, ensuring meaningful roles for all segments of society, especially women.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Women’s Section of the United Nations have expressed concern about the mental and physical health of imprisoned women in Afghanistan, highlighting the negative impact of incarceration on their lives.

In a joint statement, these organizations noted that many detained women in Kabul prisons have not committed “violent crimes.”

So far, the Taliban officials have not responded to the statements made by Heather Barr, the head of the UN Women’s Rights Watch.

According to statistics provided by the Taliban administration’s Prison Regulation Authority, approximately 500 incarcerated women in the country are held in prisons due to criminal offences, corruption, and abduction.

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