The founder of the Baha'i faith Baha'u'llah wrote
"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings, the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly." It is likely that the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan have not read Baha'i texts. In fact when the Taliban were first in power from 1996-2001 and again now from August 2021, they have arrested, tortured and summarily executed mambers of minority religions such as the Hazara population who are Shia and members of Sufi orders.
However, it is against women and girls in general that the Taliban have systematically implemented restrictive policies and practices that deny women and girls their human rights. Over 50 repressive edicts and decrees address women and girls to limit empolyment possibilities and access to education and health care. Protests have been supressed. Women's rights activists have faced targeted killings, enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention, and other forms of harassment. In March 2024 theTaliban authorities announced that they will revive public stoning and flogging women to death on charges of adultery.
Earlier Afghan governments had signed the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Distrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and so the current government is theoretically still bound by its provisions. However, the CEDAW has no enforcement possibilities, and it is probably unknown to most Afghan citizens.
It is not clear what outside pressure can be brought on the Afghan government to modify its policies toward women and girls. The governments of China and Russia seem to have developed closer relations with the Taliban authorities. However, it is unlikely that the Chinese or Russian government will raise human rights violations. Thus we must see what influence nongovernmental organizations can have. It is clear that economic and social development is clearly hindered by current Taliban policies and practices. Without equality the birds will not fly.
René Wadlow, Association of World Citizens
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