Minority freedoms have been crushed since the Taliban returned to power, none more so than the country's LGBTQ+ community. Faced with brutal violence by the authorities and suspicion from the wider community, many are forced to flee or enter hiding.
Since the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Afghanistan, they have ratcheted up restrictions on women and girls as the group consolidates power. These restrictions include limitations on employment, education, public interactions and other fundamental rights such as access to justice. These restrictions have only tightened over time with increasingly draconian enforcement the latest being public floggings that harken back to the Taliban’s 1990s rule. Amid the U.N.’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, USIP has compiled a comprehensive archive of Taliban decrees and public statements on the treatment of women and girls. While leaders and activists around the globe strategize and develop plans to address gender-based violence in their respective countries, Afghanistan stands out as a worst-case example, with two decades of hard-won progress rapidly unwinding.
Since the Taliban takeover last year, Afghan women and girls have been demonstrating for their right to education and employment. When women in Iran took to the streets in anti-regime protests after…
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a new report detailing the mistreatment of Afghan women, who were wrongfully detained with their families for protesting against Taliban abuses.