An Afghan Olympian athlete has sent a message to the Taliban by writing “Education,” “Sport,” “Our Rights,” on her bib. Kimia Yousofi competed in the women’s 100 meter race and later told reporters that her country was taken over by a group that few respect or even recognize as a legitimate authority. She referred to the Taliban as “terrorists.”
Yousofi lives in Australia and is one of just three women representing Afghanistan at the Olympic Games in Paris. She was earlier chosen as the nation’s flag-bearer and said she was proud to “represent the girls” of her homeland. She added that she stands for the hopes and dreams of Afghan women, who “don’t have the authority to make decisions as free human beings.”
According to the international human rights group, Amnesty International, the situation for Afghan women rapidly deteriorated when the Taliban rose to power following the US withdrawal of 2021. Under Taliban rule, women are prohibited from attending school or college, are not allowed to work, cannot leave their homes without a male chaperone, are banned from showing skin in public, denied healthcare, and are prohibited from politics or speaking in public.
Amnesty International also notes that in the capital city Kabul, residents were forced to cover their windows to ensure that women inside could not be seen. Men are allowed to beat their wives, sisters, or any other female, and even permitted to kill them. Additionally, if a woman is raped or sexually abused, and she reports this, she is likely to face severe punishment such as stoning to death.
When the Taliban was ousted during the US invasion of 2001, schools began welcoming girls again, and women returned to work. In the new Afghan constitution of 2003, women’s rights were enshrined in law, and Afghanistan adopted international Elimination of Violence Against Women provisions.
Shukria Barakzai, a former Member of Parliament and Afghan Ambassador to Norway, described the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, saying, “Everyone was in shock.” She added that so much had been achieved for women over the previous two decades, but it was wiped out almost instantly.
The Taliban initially promised it would not persecute women as it previously had, but few took them at their word, and their critics’ worst fears were rapidly proven correct. A former judge, who fled the country, said that many of the criminals she had sent to prison became the country’s rulers.
Human Rights Watch, an international human rights monitor, describes life for women in Afghanistan as the “world’s most serious women’s rights crisis.” The United Nations likewise rates the country the worst in the world for women. Nevertheless, the UN conceded to Taliban demands in June and excluded women from a conference addressing rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban demanded that no women be present and that women’s rights not be addressed. The United Nations agreed.
Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Excluding women risks legitimising the Taliban’s abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN’s credibility.”
