April 14, 2024
By Moin Kakar
PESHAWAR
Recently, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Afghan Taliban, announced the public stoning of women for adultery in a voice message. He outlined conditions for carrying out the punishment, requiring the presence of two witnesses with a clean past.
This statement by the Taliban leader raises concerns about further oppression of women in Afghanistan. In a country where women are already marginalised and treated as objects, this announcement is alarming and indicative of a deeper descent into darkness. His statement is indicative of the Taliban’s ongoing pattern of violence against women.
During the initial period of the Taliban regime, reports indicate that a significant number of women were coerced into marriages against their will. Those responsible for enslaving and mistreating women, including Taliban leaders like Hibatullah, must be held accountable.
In a statement issued by the Taliban on September 30, 1996, Afghan women were subjected to severe restrictions, including being banned from participating in business activities. Also their access to education and freedom of movement were severely curtailed, with only children up to the age of 8 permitted to attend school.
The Taliban’s enforcement of strict gender norms systematically oppressed women, exploiting them economically and rendering them dependent on men for survival. Measures such as the closure of beauty parlours and restrictions on women’s mobility were imposed under the guise of religious mandates. Reports have documented instances of brutal punishments inflicted on women for minor infractions, such as the amputation of a woman’s finger for applying nail polish.
In a particularly harrowing incident in 1999, a mother was publicly executed in front of thousands of spectators at Ghazi Sports Field in Kabul. When a woman was apprehended for operating an unauthorised school, she endured brutal physical punishment, including being dragged through the streets and subjected to severe injuries.
Taliban leader’s recent announcement to stone women, coupled with their past mistreatment of women, reflects their perpetration of genocide against women.
The Taliban’s influence is affecting ordinary people all the more, indicating a worrying trend towards their mental dominance in the region unless stopped.
Despite constituting approximately 48 percent of Afghanistan’s population, women are subjected to severe restrictions on mobility and employment opportunities. These constraints exacerbate the economic crisis gripping the nation. The World Report 2024 highlights that in 2023, an estimated 28 million people lacked access to essential human necessities.
On December 4, 2022, approximately 60,000 women were compelled to shutter their beauty parlours following the ban on women venturing outdoors. The livelihoods of these women are now uncertain, leaving them reliant on the Taliban for their livelihoods.
According to the Brookings, “In 2003, fewer than 10 percent of girls were enrolled in primary schools; by 2017, that number had grown to 33 percent4—not enough, but progress still—while female enrollment in secondary education grew from six percent in 2003 to 39 percent in 2017.5 Thus, 3.5 million Afghan girls were in school with 100,000 studying in universities.”
The report further states that women’s life expectancy grew from 56 years in 2001 to 66 in 2017, and their mortality during childbirth declined from 1,100 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 396 per 100,000 in 2015.
Progress was being made to address these challenges. Unfortunately, after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the situation for women has deteriorated once more.
The question is whether the Taliban can abolish economic exploitation by confining more than half of their population to their homes. The answer lies with those who have been educated in Taliban-run madrasahs.