In May 2022, nine months after the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, I visited a girls’ secondary school in the north that defiantly remained open despite a nationwide ban on education for girls above sixth grade. The community’s strong commitment to education allowed students to continue learning, albeit under a veil of uncertainty. Among the students was an 11th-grade math student with dreams of becoming a teacher, determined not to be confined to domestic life. Her hopes symbolized a flicker of resistance against the Taliban’s oppressive regime.
However, when I returned a year later, that flicker had been extinguished. The school was closed, teachers reassigned, and the once vibrant classrooms now silent. The student, along with her classmates, was forced into a life of seclusion at home. This scenario is not unique. Across Afghanistan, the mental health of girls and women has deteriorated, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. The Taliban’s ban on education is but one facet of a broader campaign to erase women from public life.
The international community is set to convene in Doha, Qatar, to discuss Afghanistan’s future. The Taliban, who previously declined to attend, have accepted the United Nations' invitation. However, the meeting’s agenda, influenced by Taliban preferences, conspicuously omits human rights and women's issues. This exclusion is unacceptable. The price of the Taliban’s presence cannot come at the expense of Afghan women’s rights.
When the Taliban seized power in August 2021, they promised that the suspension of girls' education was temporary, pending suitable conditions under Islamic rules. Nearly three years later, schools remain closed to girls older than 12, and universities have also imposed restrictions. Education, according to the Taliban, is an “internal matter,” leaving little hope for reopening schools to girls.
The Taliban’s decrees extend beyond education. Female civil servants were barred from work, women were forbidden from working at NGOs and humanitarian agencies, and female-owned businesses, such as beauty salons, were shuttered. Additionally, women and girls now require a male relative’s accompaniment to travel. This systemic oppression has virtually erased women and girls from public life, stripping them of their basic rights. Afghan women and many international advocates, including myself, call these policies gender apartheid, urging for their criminalization under international law.
The Taliban’s oppression devastates not only the current generation but also future generations of Afghans. Boys raised in a system that dehumanizes women may perpetuate this cycle of abuse, posing broader security concerns. Furthermore, the Taliban’s brutal enforcement of gender policies also severely impacts LGBTQ individuals, depriving them of their fundamental rights.
Despite the grim reality, Afghan women and girls continue to resist. Some brave women have protested in the streets, demanding their rights at the risk of arrest and violence. With limited access to the internet, a minority of girls take online classes in English, math, and science. Female entrepreneurs have moved their businesses online, finding ways to circumvent restrictions. One woman poignantly stated, “We did not create the Taliban, but we are the ones who have to live with them in control. There is no other choice than to find ways to survive and learn.”
Abandoning these women to struggle alone would be a grave disservice. The international community owes them protection, support, and solidarity. The focus on politically neutral topics at the Doha meeting, intended to lure the Taliban to the table, neglects the critical issue of human rights. The United Nations Security Council's independent assessment advised that any roadmap for Afghanistan’s reintegration into the international community should include measurable human rights improvements.
Afghanistan’s human rights record has been questionable even during the 20 years of the Islamic republic, but the Taliban’s regime has only exacerbated the situation. They have engaged in widespread abuses, including killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions, particularly targeting minorities. Yet, non-Taliban Afghans remain sidelined from political discussions, a historical mistake that undermines the credibility and sustainability of these processes.
The Taliban are not recognized by the United Nations as a legitimate government and should not be treated as such. They must not be allowed to dictate the terms of international conferences. The success of the Doha meeting should not hinge on the Taliban’s participation.
The international community must exhibit strong, principled leadership to counter the Taliban’s oppressive policies. Afghan women and girls, who once feared the Taliban’s return, now dread their potential recognition. The international community must demand the reversal of restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights, insist on their meaningful participation in decision-making, and enforce accountability. Including these issues in the Doha agenda is a critical first step towards ensuring justice and equality for Afghan women and girls.
