Afghanistan Taliban Crisis
- girlupshine
- Aug 24, 2021
- 2 min read
As we all know, Afghanistan is under the control of Taliban as of August 15, after the capture of Kabul but an agreement was signed in February 2020 for withdrawal of US power which shifted focus from attacks on the US military to attacks on Afghan civilians and security forces. As of now Afghan is without its President who ran away and this conflict killing more than 78,000 civilians.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Back in 2001, the US was responding to the 9/11 attacks in which they identified the Islamist group al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden to be responsible for it. Osama was in Afghanistan under the protection of Taliban, who were in power since 1996. When they refused to hand him over, US intervened, removing Taliban with a promise to establish democracy. NATO allies joined the US and a ne Afghan government took over in 2004. After 15 years of rule and chaos, peace talks began between Taliban and the US with the Afghans being completely uninvolved.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Women in Taliban controlled areas continue to face gender-based discrimination, with more than 100 deaths reported in the last year apart from assault, corporal punishments and lack of representation. Even children continued to face harassment and sexual violence with the practice of bacha bazi (male children abused by older men). Women are afraid of the return of Sharia law. In a state where women were not given adequate access to healthcare, having democratic rights is a still big question mark.
NOT ALL MEN
While many women advocates are standing up for equality, men are to play an equal role in this movement. In fact, Ferdous Samim rightly pointed out that women are subjected to a lot more verbal scrutiny compared to men even while doing everyday tasks. Lal Gul another feminist is working for civil rights for both men and women in forced marriages. The role of men and boys in Afghan communities is critical in supporting girls’ access to education. Within families and communities, boys and men need to encourage and stand up for the right of girls to go to school.
~ Ishita Goyal
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