UNITED NATIONS, May 05 (APP): UN Human rights experts have sounded alarm at widespread mental health issues and accounts of escalating suicides among Afghan women and girls that stem from a systematic crackdown on their rights by the Taliban \u2013- from attending school to working at the UN \u2013- and called for immediate reversing of the restrictions imposed on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are alarmed about widespread mental health issues and accounts of escalating suicides among women and girls,\u201d they said in a joint statement following an eight-day visit to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis extreme situation of institutionalized gender-based discrimination in Afghanistan is unparalleled anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, de facto authorities have issued a cascade of restrictive orders that amounts to \u201cextreme institutionalized gender-based discrimination\u201d and a systematic chipping away of the rights of women and girls, they warned.<\/p>\n
The ongoing \u201cappalling\u201d human rights violations have masked other underlying manifestations of gender-based discrimination that preceded the Taliban\u2019s rule and are now \u201cdeeply engrained in society and even normalized\u201d, they added.<\/p>\n
Currently, females are prohibited from being in school above sixth grade, including universities, can only be provided care by women doctors, and are barred from working at the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).<\/p>\n
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, and the Chair of the working group on discrimination against women and girls, Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, shared their preliminary observations, including meetings with Taliban leaders and grave accounts from the women and girls they met in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, in Balkh province, between 17 April and 4 May.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumerous women shared their feelings of fear and extreme anxiety, describing their situation as a life under house arrest,\u201d they reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also particularly concerned by the fact that women who peacefully protest against these oppressive measures encounter threats, harassment, arbitrary detentions and torture,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
For two years, the de facto authorities have dismantled the legal and institutional framework and have been \u201cruling through the most extreme forms of misogyny\u201d, destroying the relative progress towards gender equality achieved in the past two decades, they said.<\/p>\n
In meetings with the Taliban, the experts said de facto authorities had told them that women were working in the health, education, and business sectors, and that they were ensuring that women can work according to Sharia, separated from men.<\/p>\n
The de facto authorities reiterated their message that they were working on the reopening of schools, without providing a clear timeline, and indicated that the international community should not interfere in the country\u2019s internal affairs, the experts added.<\/p>\n
However, they noted that the Taliban impose certain interpretations of religion \u201cthat appear not to be shared by the vast majority of Afghans\u201d.<\/p>\n
The experts said that one of the women they spoke with told them, \u201cwe are alive, but not living\u201d.<\/p>\n
The consequences of the restrictive measures have led to detention for alleged \u201cmoral crimes\u201d under extreme \u201cmodesty rules\u201d, they said. New laws have also decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence, leaving women and girls with absolutely no recourse.<\/p>\n
The impact is alarming, the experts said, noting that new Taliban-imposed measures have reportedly contributed to a surge in the rates of child and forced marriage, as well as the proliferation of gender-based violence perpetrated with impunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese acts do not occur in isolation,\u201d they cautioned. \u201cIf we are to eliminate discrimination and break cycles of violence, gender justice requires a holistic understanding as to why such violations are committed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world \u201ccannot turn a blind eye,\u201d they warned.<\/p>\n
They recommended that the international community develop further normative standards and tools to address \u201cthe broader phenomenon of gender apartheid\u201d as an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, humiliation, and exclusion of women and girls.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the UN should take a human rights-based approach which requires a deep understanding and analysis of its principles, they said.<\/p>\n
Technical and financial partners should considerably increase their support to activists and grassroots organizations present in Afghanistan and to the unwavering efforts of a \u201cstill vibrant civil society\u201d to avoid the complete breakdown of civic space which could have irreversible consequences, they recommended.<\/p>\n
They urged the de facto authorities to honour commitments towards the protection and promotion of all women\u2019s and girls\u2019 rights and comply with obligations under instruments to which Afghanistan is a State party, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, May 05 (APP): UN Human rights experts have sounded alarm at widespread mental health issues and accounts of escalating suicides among Afghan women and girls that stem from a systematic crackdown on their rights by the Taliban \u2013- from attending school to working […]<\/p>\n
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