Afghanistan’s Taliban has ordered a ban on University Education for women, which has provoked international outrage and left many Afghans feeling hopeless. Women are excluded from both private and public universities on Tuesday, effective immediately and indefinitely.
Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Minister of Higher Education, made the announcement in a letter sent to all public and private universities, “You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice.” Three months after hundreds of women took university entrance exams nationwide, higher education is now prohibited by the Taliban
Since the Taliban’s return last year, girls are already no longer allowed to attend secondary schools; the new ruling is another significant setback for women’s and girls’ rights under Taliban control. While disregarding worldwide anger, the Taliban have tightened regulations on all facets of women’s lives despite vowing for a gentler administration when they took control last year.
Several female students who went to their Universities were denied entry and sent back by. The staff itself was hopeless as they had no choice but to implement the decision. now with the majority of girls denied of their education past the primary grade, girls are more likely to experience maltreatment and child marriage if they lack access to education.
On Wednesday, some women protested against this decision in Kabul, the country’s capital. However, Taliban officials promptly put an end to these protests.
Taliban authority results in greater than ever oppression of women
The post-invasion constitution that was adopted in 2004 with US support had provisions protecting women’s rights. The Afghan government was required by the constitution to abide by and put into effect global women’s rights agreements. In addition, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs was established as the primary agency in charge of advancing the status of women.
This advancement was swiftly undone following the Taliban takeover. The Taliban regime abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) just one month after taking office.
Since assuming control, the Taliban has enforced tight regulations on Afghan women, mandating what they must wear and restricting their freedom of movement, employment opportunities, and access to education.
In a long line of setbacks for Afghan women, the Taliban’s prohibition on women visiting parks and gyms last month is the most recent. According to reports, the prohibition was implemented because people were disobeying instructions requiring gender segregation and because women were not donning the mandatory hijab, or head covering.
In May 2022, the Taliban issued a decree ordering women to have their faces covered in public and to stay inside their houses, save for emergencies. Long-distance travel for women without a male companion was prohibited.
It also declared that no woman might lodge a grievance against their husband or the male family members; nor will the court handle these complaints. Many women were killed as a result of this declaration.
While the Taliban asserts that they are against them, reports suggest that child marriages and forced marriages have increased over the past year. In the midst of all of this, an upsurge in female suicides has also been noted.
Pakistan on Taliban’s ban on Education
Pakistan expressed unhappiness with Afghanistan’s move on Wednesday and urged the nation to reconsider its decision to stop providing university and higher education to female students. But despite this, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan suggested that engaging Afghanistan’s leaders were still the best course of action.
