As handfuls gather on International Women\u2019s Day, UN rights rapporteur calls for release of detained rights activists.
\nBadakhshan
\nSmall groups of Afghan women have gathered in private spaces to demand that harsh restrictions on their freedoms be lifted, despite recent Taliban crackdowns on protests that have seen activists detained.
\nThe demonstrations were staged in different locations, including the provinces of Takhar and Balkh, as the world celebrated International Women\u2019s Day on Friday, according to the activists from the Purple Saturdays group \u2013 an organisation formed to raise awareness and oppose restrictions on women\u2019s freedoms.
\nIn northern Takhar province, seven women held papers obscuring their faces, reading \u201cRights, Justice, Freedom\u201d.
\n\u201cOur silence and fear is the biggest weapon of the Taliban,\u201d a demonstrator whose face was covered said in a video.
\nIn Balkh province, several women also held up signs saying \u201cDon\u2019t give the Taliban a chance\u201d in front of a banner reading \u201cSave Afghanistan Women\u201d.
\nAbout 20 women gathered at an event organised by the Afghanistan Association of the Blind in northern Mazar-i-Sharif city on Thursday. \u201cIt is very painful that a woman has no value in our society today. She cannot use any of her rights,\u201d said one attendee.
\nOn Friday, Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, called on the Taliban government \u201cto immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been arbitrarily detained for defending human rights, especially the rights of women and girls\u201d.
\nWomen have protested sporadically against rules handed down by the Taliban authorities, but often in small groups and indoors out of fear of reprisals, after several activists were detained for months.
\n\u2018Poverty and isolation\u2019
\nSince surging back to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed numerous restrictions on women and girls, ordering women to cover up when leaving home, stopping girls and women from attending high school or university, and banning them from public spaces with laws the UN has labelled \u201cgender apartheid\u201d.
\nThey also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, and most female government employees were dismissed from their jobs or paid to stay at home.
\nTaliban authorities have repeatedly dismissed international criticism as propaganda. On Friday, spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban government was committed to women\u2019s rights within the framework of Islam, according to an interview with Tolo News.
\nMarking International Women\u2019s Day, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), urged the Taliban government to lift restrictions on women and girls, saying not doing so risked \u201cfurther pushing the country into deeper poverty and isolation\u201d.
\nAccording to UNAMA, more than 12 million Afghan women are in need of humanitarian assistance. The mission raised fears over recent crackdown on non-compliance with the Islamic dress code, which was \u201cpushing women into even greater isolation due to fear of arbitrary arrest\u201d.
\nAlison Davidian, special representative for UN Women in Afghanistan, said the plight of Afghan women and girls was \u201ca global fight and a battle for women\u2019s rights everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As handfuls gather on International Women\u2019s Day, UN rights rapporteur calls for release of detained rights activists. Badakhshan Small groups of Afghan women have gathered in private spaces to demand that harsh restrictions on their freedoms be lifted, despite recent Taliban crackdowns on protests that have seen activists detained. The demonstrations were staged in different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-392656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n