According to a recent UN study, the Taliban is confining Afghani women who have survived abuse to prison in order to shield them from gender-based violence. According to the research, Afghanistan’s administration has mostly barred women from public areas and shut down 23 state-sponsored protection centers that provided safe havens for victims of gender-based violence. However, these facilities are no longer available to assist women.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan was informed by Taliban representatives that such shelters were unnecessary.
“A de facto police officer [from the Taliban] in the northeastern region [of Afghanistan] said that women’s shelters are a western concept, stressing that women should stay with their brothers, fathers, or husbands,” the report mentioned.
Another official added, “The Islamic Emirate does not have any shelter for women. They must be with their husbands or other male family members – their mehram.”
Taliban does not see any need for such shelters as “no one will harm women while the Islamic Emirate is in power”, it continued.
Afghan women are transported to prison “akin to how prisons have been used to accommodate drug addicts and homeless people in Kabul”, the report added further, “A de facto appellate court judge in the northeastern region stated that the de facto Cabinet was conducting research to assess if there is a need for women’s shelters.”
Taliban’s take on women rights
The Taliban has outlawed women and girls from entering universities, colleges, and workplaces. It is also forbidden for women to travel without a male guardian. According to the UN report, women are no longer permitted to handle offenses involving gender-based violence or to function in the judiciary or law enforcement.
