Former Afghan Minister Nargis Nehan Says Taliban Have Institutionalised Discrimination Against Women

Nargis Nehan, Afghanistan’s former minister of mines and petroleum and founder of the “Faragir” organisation, has said that the Taliban have formally embedded discrimination against women into their system of governance and have criminalised all forms of thought, protest and opposition. Speaking at the launch event of a new report by the Faragir organisation at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, Nehan said the continuation of the current situation poses not only a serious threat to Afghanistan but also risks global security and stability. She said the international community should recognise and criminalise what she described as structural discrimination against women as a “crime against humanity”, asking whether the world was prepared to take such action or whether “the human dignity of women would once again become a victim of geopolitical policies”. At the event, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, a researcher specialising in Islamic law and gender, said the Taliban were using religion instrumentally to legitimise restrictions imposed on women and argued that women’s rights and gender equality are not incompatible with Islamic teachings. In its latest report titled “Alarm Bell: Afghan Women’s Narratives of Gender Apartheid and the Growing Threat of Religious Extremism”, the Faragir organisation said the Taliban were using restrictions on women’s rights as a political tool to control society and preserve their rule. The report added that the construction of thousands of religious schools had contributed to an increase in ideological indoctrination in Afghanistan. The report also said feelings of insecurity and extremism were increasing in society and that vulnerable groups, including religious and ethnic minorities, former government employees and international organisations, faced risks of targeted violence.