The Taliban has taken over Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul. What does this mean for the country’s women and girls?
Afghanistan’s former president Ashraf Ghani fled the country only hours ago. He left officials with the duty of ‘handing over’ the palace to Taliban militants.
A Taliban security member told media that “no blood was shed in the handover”. He alson said there is a “peaceful handover of government facilities ongoing across the country.”
This comes as de facto leader Mullah Baradar has issued this message in congratulations to the Taliban on the group’s declaration of the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’.
As the Taliban continues to move to take over the country, this leaves the future of Afghan girls and women in the lurch.
What will the Taliban’s takeover mean for women and girls?
As the Biden government withdraws troops from Afghanistan, women and girls are left behind. This month, the Biden government begun evacuating thousands of Afghans who are at risk of retribution for helping US forces. Meanwhile, these discussions have majorly left out the potential ramifications for women and girls across the country.
During its previous rule between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban banned women from working. Girls were also forbidden from attending school after the age of 8.
But the US occupation of Afghanistan has brought Western values to the country – and with it, more freedom for women. This freedom would be unlikely to survive a takeover by the fundamentalist Taliban.
“They’ll sell women out just as quickly as anyone else will”
According to 2020 figures from the US Agency for International Development, almost 40% of the roughly 9 million children enrolled in school in Afghanistan are girls. About 100,000 girls are studying at public and private universities, the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education says.
“The second the government comes under a bit of pressure or looks for some negotiating bargaining chip, they’ll sell women out just as quickly as anyone else will,” said Fatima Ayub, a Washington-based Afghan researcher.
“I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm”
Former US president Bush
“They’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people,” said former US president Bush. “It just breaks my heart”. Meanwhile, US Republicans say the country must continue to push western values through soft power around the world.
However, the Taliban’s attitude towards women and girls isn’t consistent across the board. “There’s no clarity. The Taliban mention an ‘Islamic framework’. However, there are no details as to what that looks like,” said Hosna Jalil, former deputy minister of women’s affairs.
This is not to say that Afghan women weren’t fighting for their rights before US occupation. One academic and former minister says that Western powers creating an “enabling environment”. Muqadessa Yourish, a former deputy minister for commerce and industry and a lecturer at the American University of Kabul says, “it took the risking of Afghan lives to build on these opportunities”.
“Those women would have done their work and their struggle irrespective of whether there were Americans, British or other foreigners to help them,” she said.
Human rights abuses, horrific violence and corruption
Of course, any gains made in Afghanistan for women came alongside with horrific abuses of power and human rights violations.
Asked if he had “any message” for Afghan women, Biden recounted an encounter years before with an Afghan schoolgirl. She had pleaded for US troops to stay so she could become a doctor.
Natasha is an Associate Producer at ticker NEWS with a Bachelor of arts from Monash University. She has previously worked at Sky News Australia and Monash University as an Online Content Producer.
In Short:
– Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing, risking global tensions and retaliation from other nations.
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The potential for worldwide radioactive fallout remains high, even for underground tests. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed by 187 states, prohibits such testing, yet the US remains a signatory without ratification, bound not to violate the treaty’s intent.
Nuclear weapon testing, once crucial for understanding weapon effects and military planning, has diminished. Since World War II, nuclear tests have largely focused on developing new designs. Significant environmental and health concerns led to a moratorium on atmospheric testing in the early 1960s and the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
Many countries, including the US, stopped explosive testing in the 1990s. Technological advancements allowed nations to develop nuclear weapons without the need for actual explosions.
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Nuclear proliferation continues, with all nine nuclear-armed states investing heavily in modernising their arsenals. This raises concerns about lowered thresholds for using such weapons.
Recent conflicts involving nuclear threats have escalated, and the number of nuclear weapons operationally available has begun to rise again. Russia has tested advanced nuclear weapons, while China is rapidly expanding its military capabilities.
The New START Treaty, which confines the nuclear capabilities of the US and Russia, is set to expire soon, with no successor treaty negotiations underway.
The Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight this year, highlighting the heightened dangers facing the world today.
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