By Banafsha Binesh in TOLOnews, June 24, 2023 at 9:09 PM
The UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Irene Khan, said at the 53rd regular session of the Human Rights Council that in Afghanistan women’s public presence has been totally erased by the ‘Taliban’.
Irene Khan said in a report that Women’s rights groups play an important role in the struggle for gender equality and in promoting the agency of women.
“Women’s rights groups play an important role in the struggle for gender equality and in promoting the agency of women. They have come under pressure as civic space has shrunk in a number of countries, the most egregious example being Afghanistan, where women’s public presence has been totally erased by the Taliban,” the report reads.
“Women’s presence in a ministry or in an institution cannot make up for their equal legal rights,” said Suraya Paikan, a women’s rights activist.
In the meantime, the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan in the United Nations Human Rights Council criticized what he called the increasing violence against women and girls in Afghanistan.
“Since the unlawful takeover of Afghanistan, women and girls continue to remain at an ever increasing of risk of violence. Mr. President, systematic discrimination against women and girls, a core element of the Taliban’s form of rule, has normalized gender based violence. The restrictive environment they face outside the homes has multiplied instance of domestic violence,” said Suraya Azizi, Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to UNOG.
“Ignoring women’s ability to run the government and removing them from social, political, and civil positions will leave the nation with more economic and social problems and lead to personality stagnation in a generation,” said Nazela Hassanzada, a women’s rights activist.
Suhail Shaheen, the head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Qatar, challenged claims that women had been entirely exiled from the political and social sphere and said some women were employed by institutions of the Afghan government and that they would be assigned in other institutions as needed in the future.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s government is committed to all women’s rights in accordance with Islamic principles, and they have been granted and will continue to be granted their rights. Tens of thousands of women currently work in the Ministries of Public Health and Education; therefore, the report of the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur does not accurately reflect the situation in Afghanistan,” Shaheen told TOLOnews.
Previously, the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennett, said that between September 2021 and May 2023, more than 50 edicts were issued regarding women and girls by the Islamic Emirate, which has “deprived Afghan women of the right to education, work, and participation in social and political life.”
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183910
