WORLD NEWS | UN experts warn Taliban restrictions could amount to femicide

ISLAMABAD, May 6 (AP) A United Nations panel of experts warned Friday that Taliban restrictions on Afghan women and girls could amount to femicide if not reversed.

Since seizing power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have banned women from most jobs and workplaces, and girls have been barred from school beyond the sixth grade. Women are also banned from public places and must cover themselves from head to toe when outside their homes.

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In a statement released on Friday, UN experts accused the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of “the most extreme form of misogyny” and said that if restrictions were not lifted there could be many preventable deaths that could amount to killings female sin.

The restrictions and bans imposed by the Taliban have drawn condemnation and outrage from the international community, but the Taliban has shown no willingness to lift them.

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The UN experts also say the Taliban are imposing their interpretation of Islam, which does not appear to be shared by the vast majority of Afghans. They expressed alarm at claims of widespread mental health problems and rising suicide rates among women and girls.

“Because girls and women are barred from school past the sixth form, as well as from university education, and they can only be cared for by female doctors, unless restrictions are lifted quickly there could be many preventable deaths and the death toll could reach the killing women,” said the experts, who shared their initial observations from an eight-day trip to Afghanistan.

The bans have reportedly led to an increase in child and forced marriages, as well as an increase in gender-based violence that “goes unpunished,” the statement said.

However, UN experts noted that gender discrimination in Afghanistan pre-dates Taliban rule and is deeply entrenched in society, and urged the international community not to use Afghan women and girls for political purposes, saying their rights should never be used as a negotiating tool.

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council include Richard Bennett, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, and Dorothy Estrada-Tank, head of the Task Force on Discrimination against Women and Girls.

In November, UN experts said the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan may constitute crimes against humanity and should be investigated and prosecuted under international law.

The Taliban rejected their statement at the time. (Associated Press)

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