Women’s Rights in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996-2001)

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During these years, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, but since 2001, they were pushed back by the Northern Alliance—a coalition of Afghan field commanders supported by the Americans.

During this period, Afghan women faced many harsh restrictions on their lives.

Afghan women were required to wear the burqa, as the Taliban spokesperson claimed that a woman’s exposed face could lead a man into sin, even if he is “morally pure.” A set of measures aimed at the segregation of women is sometimes referred to as gender apartheid, as women were not allowed to move freely or receive an education beyond the age of 8 (they were only permitted to study the Quran). Those women who sought education in other forms attended underground schools, where both they and their teachers risked execution if discovered. Women were not allowed to receive treatment from male doctors. Violating Taliban laws could result in flogging or execution for women. The Taliban permitted girls to be married off before the age of 16 and sometimes even encouraged it.

According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, 80% of marriages in Afghanistan were conducted under coercion.

It is worth noting that despite the fact that such restrictions were based on Sharia and Islamic dress codes, they have been heavily distorted and aimed at directly infringing on women’s rights. In Sharia, there is no law requiring women to cover their faces and hands, prohibiting them from moving freely, or preventing them from working. On the contrary, Sharia encourages the pursuit of education.

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Main limitations

Starting at the age of 8, the girl was not allowed to have any contact with men unless they were her husband or a close relative (mahram).
A woman was not allowed to go outside without the accompaniment of her husband or a relative and without a burqa (which completely covers her face and body).
Wearing high heels was not allowed, as the sound of a woman’s footsteps could arouse a man.
Women should not speak loudly in public places; a stranger man should not hear the conversation.
All the windows on the ground floors of the buildings were to be painted over or sealed up so that women inside could not be seen from the street.
Women were not allowed to be photographed or filmed; their images were banned from newspapers, books, magazines, and even at home.
All phrases containing the word “woman” were altered, for example, “women’s courtyard” became “spring courtyard.”
Women were prohibited from appearing on the balconies of any buildings, even at home.
Women were prohibited from appearing on the radio, television, and any type of event.

Dress code

Wearing bright clothing was prohibited as it was considered sexually attractive. The Taliban’s decree from 1996 states that women wearing tight fashionable clothes and jewelry would never enter heaven. Beauty salons were outlawed and closed down, and cosmetics and nail polish were also banned. Women were required to cover their entire bodies, including their faces. The wearing of the burqa was encouraged.

Movement

Women faced strict restrictions on their freedom of movement, making it nearly impossible to go out without a husband or relative, leaving them, figuratively speaking, under house arrest. In an interview with Latifa, an Afghan woman who was brutally beaten by the Taliban for walking alone in the street, she said: “My father was killed in battle… I have no husband, no brother, no son. How can I live if I can’t go out alone?”

According to a member of the humanitarian organization Terre des hommes, after the Taliban took power, all female staff at the largest shelter in Kabul, Taqia Maskan, were dismissed, and about 400 girls living in the shelter were locked inside for a year with no opportunity to leave the building.

The main restrictions on women’s movement were as follows:

Women were not allowed to move around in the street and in public places without the accompaniment of a husband or relative.
Women were not allowed to drive cars, ride motorcycles, or bicycles, even when accompanied by their husband or a relative.
Women were not allowed to take a taxi without the company of a husband or relative.
Women and men were not allowed to travel together on buses; separate buses were introduced.

Such restrictions had less impact on the lives of women living in small villages, who typically lived and worked within their homes and their immediate surroundings. However, they were unable to travel to neighboring villages.

Employment

A burqa is a garment that women were encouraged to wear, and covering the face was mandatory.

The Taliban claimed that a woman working could engage in sexual relations with a male colleague during working hours, which contradicts Sharia law. On September 30, 1996, the Taliban announced that women were required to be removed from any form of paid employment. At that time, 25% of civil servants were women, and the mass dismissal of women had a detrimental effect on the economy (especially in household services, where most workers were women) and primary education (the vast majority of teachers were women). Thousands of educated families fled Kabul to Pakistan after the Taliban took the city in 1996.

The Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Mohammed Omar, assured women civil servants and teachers that they would continue to receive a monthly allowance of $5, which was, however, only a proposal. A Taliban representative stated: “More than 30,000 women will receive this allowance so that they can live comfortably at home without putting themselves at risk; those who claim that women’s rights are being violated are baselessly trying to incite the women of Kabul against the Taliban.”

The Taliban welcomed the adherence to traditional patriarchal family values, as well as the allocation of zakat funds for women’s benefits, in order to “dissuade them from working.”

The only field where women could remain was medicine (to treat female patients), but they faced a number of serious restrictions. Many women voluntarily left their jobs due to gender segregation and the widespread practice of persecution, while others continued to work under the threat of reprisals. As a result, these female doctors were highly valued as the only ones capable of providing services to women, particularly midwives. In the Kabul hospital of Mullalay, after the city was taken by the Taliban, the female staff was reduced from 200 to 50. After the fall of the Taliban regime, women experienced a severe shortage of medical services due to the virtual absence of qualified female doctors. Another exception where women were not subject to dismissal was their work in humanitarian organizations; the Taliban explained this by saying that they had a good opportunity to help other helpless women while simultaneously promoting the usefulness of the Taliban.

The new governor of Kabul, Mullah Razak, has decreed that women are prohibited from appearing in his office due to their “distracting” nature.

Education

The Taliban encouraged girls’ education, but only up to the age of 8. A Taliban representative, Maulvi Lalamadin, explained that these measures are implemented to prevent unnecessary contact with men and to ensure additional safety. The curriculum has also been altered to be more “Islamic,” which includes encouraging students to engage in jihad as understood by the Taliban.

The restriction on girls’ education after the age of 8 has had a negative impact on the education system. In particular, 106,256 girls in Kabul have been barred from attending school. Additionally, 7,793 female teachers were also dismissed, leading to the closure of 63 schools due to a severe shortage of staff. Some female teachers continued to teach in “underground schools” in their homes, educating local children or other women. However, attending such institutions was risky, as those caught could face imprisonment at best, or execution at worst.

Healthcare

Before the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, men were allowed to treat women in hospitals in special situations. However, after the decree prohibiting men from touching the bodies of unfamiliar women and the significant reduction of female staff, women began to experience a severe shortage of medical services. It became common for women to have to travel long distances to access medical care.

In Kabul, there were informal women’s clinics in homes to serve families and neighbors, but they were unable to provide the necessary medications. As a result, the rate of premature female deaths sharply increased. If a woman’s family had sufficient means, she would receive medical services in Pakistan.

In October 1996, women were banned from visiting traditional hammam baths, as the Taliban believed this contradicted Islamic laws. Since for many residents of Afghanistan, the bath was the only opportunity for proper personal hygiene, the percentage of infectious diseases among women significantly increased due to the practical impossibility of receiving medical assistance. Nasrin Gross, an Afghan-American writer, described the situation in 2001, stating that “it has been four years since women have been able to pray to God, as Islam prohibits a woman from praying after her menstrual cycle until she has washed herself.” In June 1998, the Taliban prohibited women from visiting the largest hospitals, leaving them with only special wards for women, which were available in just one hospital in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

Cultural restrictions

The Taliban imposed cultural restrictions on women. Any presence of images of women in the media was banned, and women were not allowed on radio and television. Additionally, all phrases that included the word “woman” were replaced with alternatives. Women were prohibited from laughing and speaking loudly enough for a stranger to hear their voice. They were also banned from participating in sports and entering sports clubs.

The restrictions imposed on women, as well as the humanitarian consequences related to medicine and healthcare, have had a profoundly negative impact on the mental health of many women. A survey of 160 women revealed that 97% of them experience some signs of depression. 71% reported a deterioration in their well-being.

Latifa, a resident of Kabul, wrote the following:

The apartment feels like a prison or a hospital. The silence weighs heavily on all of us. We don’t share much about our lives with each other. Unable to express our emotions, we are trapped each day in our own fear and confusion. Since we are all in this dark pit, there’s no point in repeating over and over that we can’t see clearly.

Punishments

Punishments were carried out publicly, mainly in stadiums, city squares, or through street beatings. Almost all “offenses” were punished with the use of force.

Below are some well-known cases:

In October 1996, a woman had the tip of her thumb amputated for wearing nail polish.
In December 1996, the radio announced that 225 women had been detained during a raid for violating the dress code. The court issued a sentence stating that the women would be whipped with straps on their legs and backs.
In May 1997, five women from the humanitarian organization CARE International, who were conducting research for a food security program (with the approval of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), were pulled from their vehicle by the religious police. They insulted and mocked the women through loudspeakers, and then beat them with one-and-a-half-meter whips made of leather and metal.
In 1999, Zarmina, a mother of seven, was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her husband in retaliation for his insults and beatings. The sentence was carried out in a large stadium in front of 30,000 people. She had previously been tortured, yet she did not attempt to prove her innocence to protect her daughter (who, according to some reports, was the actual murderer in this case).
When the Taliban learned that a woman was running an underground school in her home, they beat the children and threw the woman down the stairs, breaking her leg. After that, threatening to stone her family to death, they forced her to sign a declaration of loyalty to the Taliban and its laws.
Afghan girl Aisha Mohammadzai (Bibi Aisha) was married off at the age of 12 as compensation. However, in her new family, she endured a lot of violence and escaped at 18, trying to return to her birth family. However, her angry father turned her over to a Taliban commander to show a clear example of “what happens to girls if they try to escape.” Her ears and nose were cut off, and she was left to die in the mountains, but she survived.
There were many instances where women were shot for “working underground” (women were prohibited from working).
Many punishments were carried out by individual patrols. Punishing women in the streets was not sanctioned by the official Taliban authorities; they preferred to follow the official line of punishing the men responsible for the women. Maulvi Kalamadin openly stated: “We cannot directly punish women for their offenses, so we place this task on taxi drivers and shopkeepers, who can effectively show women their place.”
Examples of situations where a man could face punishment because of a woman:
If a taxi driver was transporting a woman with her face uncovered or without a male guardian, he could be arrested, and the woman’s husband would also be punished.
If a woman was washing laundry alone by the river, the Islamic authorities would bring her home, and her husband or relative would be severely punished.
* If a tailor hired female seamstresses, he faced imprisonment.