Afghan Women Fight Taliban Rule

Afghan women are fighting the segregation reintroduced by the Taliban in August.

As the Taliban moves to reimpose the separation, strictures, however, vary from region to region.

Except for healthcare workers, primary schoolteachers and women who do jobs that men are not permitted to do, such as frisking female passengers at airports, nearly all female public-sector employees have been dismissed or ordered to stay at home indefinitely.

One such woman is Shayasta Wardak, who before August worked in Kabul as a judge. Now, she is condemned to stay home.

“They told us clearly that you cannot work as judges any more,” Wardak said.

While girls can attend primary school, those in secondary are yet to resume studies even as their male counterparts went back to class a month ago.

Female students at public universities are uncertain whether they will be permitted to resume their studies.

In recent weeks, small groups of women in Kabul, Herat and other cities have held demonstrations under the eyes of armed Taliban, demanding that their rights be restored and girls’ schools reopened.

“Today’s women are not like women the first time the Taliban took over Afghanistan,” said Qudsia, a 29-year-old lawyer and former government prosecutor. “We are going against people who only know the language of arms and nothing else. It is a huge risk, but we have no choice.”

The Taliban has responded with force, using tear gas, firing warning shots into the air and beating women and journalists covering the demonstrations. But the protesters said they will continue their campaign.