On August 15, 2021, the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan after a rapid offensive. Shortly thereafter, American forces left the country and foreign citizens were evacuated.
Now, five years later, the regime is celebrating. But women are not welcome at cricket matches and other sporting events held in honour of the day.
People have been forced to endure "suffocating restrictions that infringe on almost every aspect of their daily lives and their human rights," according to Fiona Frazer, head of the UN aid agency in Afghanistan, Unama.
Women have been hit the hardest.
“500 years old”
A 23-year-old woman anonymously tells AFP about a strong feeling of suffocation.
These five years have felt so difficult that I feel like a 500-year-old woman, someone who cannot die.
Before taking power, the Taliban promised that women would have access to education, work and participation in public life, but in accordance with the principles of Islam. Instead, restrictions have gradually increased.
Today, around 2.4 million girls are excluded from post-primary education, an increase of 200,000 from last year alone, according to the UN.
Women are also prohibited from going to gyms, parks and public baths, participating in sports and traveling to remote locations without a male “protector”.
UN warns
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has reiterated that they are working to establish a system where women can once again be in classrooms and universities, but in accordance with Sharia law. However, the restrictions have not been lifted.
Afghanistan has systematically stripped the rights of half the population, and women and girls live under the world's harshest restrictions, according to a UN statement.
Real stability and international recognition cannot be achieved until the oppression of women ends, warns the UN.
