Dec 13 (IPS) – The writer is a journalist based in Afghanistan, trained with support from Finland before the Taliban took power. Her identity is being withheld for security reasons. Three years after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, women proceed to face oppressive laws and systemic marginalization.
The Taliban imposed draconian rules: women must cover their entire bodies from head to toe, they aren’t allowed to raise their voices in public places, they aren’t allowed to pray or read the Koran aloud to one another. They have long been banned from working outside the house and pursuing education
Still, Afghan women are determined to resist. “We will continue our protests and fights until we achieve freedom,” Farzana declares defiantly, member of the Afghan Women’s Movement.
Over the past 20 years, women in Afghanistan have gained higher education and job skills, but they now face greater threats from the Taliban. Suddenly they were marginalized by the Taliban rule.
“For the first two years,” says Farzana, “we took to the streets to protest for our rights. Unfortunately, during these demonstrations, the Taliban arrested, imprisoned and punished women protesters, and there was nobody to defend these women.”
Women could no longer tolerate this situation and took to the streets to demand their rights, but recently, despite the Taliban’s Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Anger introducing new and strict laws that even banned women from voting, no street protests were observed. It seems that silence also plagues Afghan women.
My interviews with female prisoners after their release revealed that they were even whipped naked, raped, and their family members were mysteriously murdered.
“We are secretly active in protest groups,” explains Farzana. “We are not allowed to roam the streets. For some time now, we have been sharing our protests with the media individually, from home. The Taliban cannot silence our voices. We will continue our protests and fights until we achieve freedom.”
Malalai, another female protester, says: “The Taliban even send spies to our homes under various pretexts, with their faces masked, claiming that they are people performing routine government duties. They have our photos and videos, identify us and arrest us. “
Malalai also says that the Taliban have installed cameras on the highest of each tall constructing, ostensibly for security cameras, but their real purpose is to monitor women. Recently, several women were unexpectedly arrested and imprisoned.
“The Taliban are afraid of us because we expose the oppression of the people, women and ethnic minorities,” says Malalai, adding: “The Taliban imposed pressure and strict rules on women. Women cannot even go out on the street without the Mahram, the male member of the family. We are questioned if several of us are seen standing together in the streets. They check our cell phones and punish us.”
“The Taliban don’t give a damn about us. They shamelessly violate our human rights, the rights of ethnic minorities and our families in front of the United Nations and other countries.
“We women will continue our fight despite the pressure and oppression of the world-famous terrorist group. We will act in accordance with our slogans of freedom of bread and work.
Saberanother female protester, highlights the Taliban’s tactics of intimidation and control. “Taliban intelligence agents arrest women who are against them. Thanks to phone calls and photos they collect from demonstrations, they identify protesting women during house-to-house searches. They also forcibly collect copies of ID cards and passports to identify protesting women – their declared opponents.
Even though we protested for our rights, many protesting women, both single and married, are currently imprisoned by the Taliban and face severe punishment, with no one monitoring their situation.
Currently, due to many challenges, we organize protests in secret places with our faces covered and then have to flee to another country.
The Taliban commits much more atrocities and oppression in remote provinces farther from the cities. They forcibly tax people twice their annual income.
If people do not obey the Taliban’s dictates, they will forcefully enter their homes and kidnap their daughters. They also rape their wives and daughters and force them to leave their residential areas.
“We can no longer tolerate this oppression. We will continue our fight,” says Sabera.
The interlocutors say that women in Afghanistan are bravely fighting the tyranny and harsh laws of the Taliban, but they have no support.
“Despite poverty and unemployment, we continue our journey at our own expense,” says Sabera.
The women call on the United Nations and human rights organizations to stop supporting and never recognizing the Taliban regime.
“We are very disappointed that our voices are not reaching the world from this dark abyss,” says Sabera.
The European Union is shocked by the laws adopted by the Taliban, which restrict women’s freedom of speech and essentially confine women’s lives to the house.
“Possible recognition would require the Taliban to respect in all respects both its obligations towards the people of Afghanistan and Afghanistan’s international obligations,” states a press release from the European Council.
The EU continues to support Afghan women and girls and all those threatened by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
On the opposite hand, the Taliban also refuses to cooperate with the UN-backed aid operation UNAMA
 - The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasonsThree years after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, women continue to face oppressive laws and systemic marginalization.){kind=link}