A new UN survey shows that the Taliban's policies have changed families' views on girls' education in Afghanistan. According to the report, fear of the Taliban and strengthening of patriarchal norms have reduced support for formal education for girls.
"Over time, I realised that supporters of women's education have remained silent out of fear [of the Taliban] or have agreed to this repression," one woman told the UN.
The report, released on Wednesday, is a joint survey by UNAMA, UN Women and the UN Migration Agency, which interviewed 776 women in 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
"Nearly half (47 percent) of these women feel that the community support for primary education for girls has declined, and this figure rises to 65 percent for secondary education for girls," the United Nations wrote in its report.
The women interviewed "stated that they feel a change in society's attitude towards women's rights, which stems from the fear of punishment from the ruling authorities and the strengthening of patriarchal norms throughout the country”.
The Taliban has been isolated internationally due to the ban on girls' education, but they have been able to reduce the importance of modern primary education for girls in the eyes of families. The United Nations says that due to the ban on girls' education in secondary and high school levels, many families feel that primary education is not beneficial for their daughters.
Also, some families have coped with this situation and want their daughters to learn a trade, go to religious school, or get married. The United Nations has said that due to the ban on education, early marriage of girls has increased in Afghanistan.
However, the United Nations says a number of families have continued to educate their daughters in secret.
‘Exclusion from society’
In the new study, 70 percent of women said that they had been deprived of going to public places such as parks and health centres in the past 12 months.
The Taliban has banned women from entering recreational areas and historical sites, they said, despite being accompanied by a male relative. Women said that Taliban agents tell them that these places are only for men.
Meanwhile, 69 percent of women said that they did not feel safe when they left the house. This feeling has caused them to isolate themselves from society and suffer from psychological problems such as depression.
The Taliban insists that they have made society safe for Afghan women, but at the same time, they call on women not to leave the house for no reason. It seems that the Taliban's violent treatment of women, mainly due to the type of clothing and the lack of a male companion, has exacerbated women's sense of insecurity on the streets.
‘Closed Door of Justice’
The report of three UN agencies shows that women have been deprived of the support and services of legal and justice authorities in Afghanistan and are not able to go to these institutions due to gender barriers.
Nearly 80 percent of the women interviewed told the organisation that Taliban government agents refuse to investigate their legal cases. Meanwhile, 79 percent of Afghan women have not referred to any official judicial institution in the past year to resolve their legal disputes and problems.
In the first step, they said that the Taliban do not allow women to go to courts or offices of justices without a male guardian, and that the group's administrations close or ignore their cases without investigation due to gender discrimination.
‘Women's Demands’
These social restrictions for women have led 57 percent of women respondents to describe their economic situation as worse than in the past. In their view, restrictions, including having a mahram, have kept them out of the economy.
They called on the Taliban to open girls' schools at all levels, respect international human rights standards, including women's rights, and remove obstacles to women's work, including the mandatory mahram.
The women told the United Nations that the world should increase pressure on the Taliban to realise women's rights, especially women's right to education and work.
