KABUL (SW) – For more than a year, the streets of Kabul and a number of other provinces have witnessed many protest marches, which were mostly organized and launched by women.
In these protests, women have demanded to secure their fundamental rights in Afghanistan, which the Islamic Emirate has denied them. The most important demands of women are to take back the right to education and the right to work.
In most recent cases, these protests have been met with harsh treatment by the security forces of the Islamic Emirate. After these protests, a number of protesting women say that they are worried about their safety.
Zarifa Yaqoubi, a women’s rights activist and one of the protesting women in Kabul, told Salam Watandar that she and her colleagues are forced to change their basis because of the threats they face.
Although she considered the situation of protesting women to be worrying, Zarifa emphasized that they will continue their protests for the women’s rights. “Not only me, but all protesting girls in Afghanistan are worried because now there is no law in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate implements what it wants by force.”
Despite the continuous protests of women in Afghanistan, the caretaker government of the Islamic Emirate has not shown any flexibility towards their demands.
In addition to this, more restrictions have been imposed on women by the caretaker government of the Islamic Emirate, especially the officers of the Promoting Good and Prohibiting the Evil.
Masouma Hosseini, a women’s rights activist and one of the protesters, told Salam Watandar: “Women are taking to the roads in very sensitive situations against a military that is not accountable, does not believe in any services for women, and has taken all women’s rights away from them.”
However, the international institutions, including Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly expressed concern about the situation of women, especially protesting women in Afghanistan.
In the past year, a number of women have been tortured and imprisoned due to their anti-government protests, and in the latest case, a number of female students at Kabul University were poisoned first in the Kabul University dormitory and then they were expelled from the university.
Despite these reports, the Islamic Emirate calls the concerns about the status of women unfounded and incorrect.
Bilal Karimi, one of the deputy spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate, told Salam Watandar: “Unfortunately, these worries are unfounded. The fact is that the ‘veil’ of war has been removed from the country and measures are being taken to advance the country.”
ENDS
