As the world helplessly witnesses an apocalyptic flashback for Afghan women, what about young and adolescent girls born into a so-called progressive era?
Dozens of barely bearable stories reach us every day. In Afghanistan, after twenty years of absence, the Islamist movement has just taken over the country, making women and young girls first-rate victims. For hundreds of thousands of them, it is the end of a progressive era, in which they could finally see a better future, study, work … A whole generation of young girls born after the departure of the Taliban has not experienced restrictions, violence and oppression. Today, it is a very dark fate that seems to be shaping up for them.
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On Sunday August 15, the city of Kabul, as a symbol, fell into the hands of the Taliban. Since then, fear has set in for the inhabitants, in particular the women, who are already seeing an immediate impact on their daily lives. During the reign of the Islamic movement between 1996 and 2001, an ultra-rigorous application of Islamic law was in place. As a result, women were not allowed to go to school, work, undergo forced marriages, had to wear the full veil, could not leave their homes without a male chaperone, and were stoned or whipped on the face. public place in case of adultery, for example.
The end of access to education?
On Tuesday, Suhail Shaheen, spokesperson for the group’s political bureau in Doha, addressed on the British channel Sky News by affirming that access to education would be guaranteed for women in Afghanistan. “They can get an education from primary to university. We announced this policy at international conferences, at the Moscow conference and here at the Doha conference. [sur l’Afghanistan]”, he explained. According to him, thousands of schools in areas controlled by the Taliban are still open.
However, concerns remain great and the future uncertain for all young Afghan girls. As a reminder, under the Taliban regime, only 5000 girls were educated across the country. For a large part of those born after 2001 and thanks to the help of numerous NGOs, access to education has been facilitated. Today, the fear is that this right will be completely taken away from them. UN chief Antonio Guterres spoke of “an unimaginable tragedy.” “It is particularly horrifying and heartbreaking to see the hard-won rights of Afghan girls and women being taken away from them.”
Forced marriages, threats and violence
No sooner had the Taliban returned to power than many atrocities had already been recorded. According to reported accounts, men in the Islamist movement would go door-to-door to establish lists of young girls and women between the ages of 12 and 45, with the aim of forcibly marrying them with Islamist insurgents.
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In a testimony delivered to the Guardian and widely relayed, Afghan student recounts her day in Kabul on her way to class. “The taxi drivers wouldn’t let us get into their cars because they didn’t want to take charge of a woman’s transportation.”, she says. The remarks made by men in the street are also cold in the back. “Go put on your burqa “,” These are your last days on the streets “,” I am going to marry four of you in one day “.
Faced with all this violence, many women have chosen to flee. Since May, nearly 250,000 Afghans have left their homes, 80% of them women and children, according to the UN.
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