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Armed guards stop Afghan women entering universities after Taliban ban

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Aysha Safi and Estelle Emonet, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Afghan girls of up to primary grades line up at their school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 23 March 2022. The Taliban on March 23 barred girls of grades 7 to 12 from attending schools, in a sudden departure from their earlier announcement that all Afghan females would be allowed to attend classes this week. EPA-EFE/STRINGER" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/03/25/afghan-girls.jpg"/><figcaption>Afghan girls of up to primary grades line up at their school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 23 March 2022. The Taliban on March 23 barred girls of grades 7 to 12 from attending schools, in a sudden departure from their earlier announcement that all Afghan females would be allowed to attend classes this week.<em> EPA-EFE/STRINGER</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>KABUL, Afghanistan - Hundreds of young women were stopped by armed guards on Wednesday from entering Afghan university campuses, a day after the nation&#x27;s Taliban rulers banned them from higher education in another assault on human rights.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/21/22/taliban-bans-university-education-for-afghan-girls">Taliban bans university education for Afghan girls</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/21/22/the-crackdown-on-afghan-womens-education-rights">Taliban timeline: The crackdown on Afghan women&#x27;s education and rights</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/17/21/afghan-girls-still-barred-from-school">&#x27;Why can&#x27;t we study?&#x27; - Afghan girls still barred from school</a></li></ul><p>Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power last year, the hardline Islamists have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women&#x27;s lives, ignoring international outrage.</p><p>A team of AFP journalists saw groups of students gathered outside universities in Kabul, barred from entering by armed guards and shuttered gates.</p><p>&quot;The Taliban are scared of women&#x27;s progress. We can raise educated children in society and they are scared of that,&quot; said 19-year Wajiha Kazimi, who survived an attack on an education centre in the capital earlier this year. </p><p>The Taliban authorities wanted to &quot;suppress&quot; women, said Setara Farahmand, 21, who was studying German literature at Kabul University.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/15/21/the-world-must-not-look-away-as-the-taliban-sexually-enslaves-women-and-girls">The world must not look away as the Taliban sexually enslaves women and girls</a></li></ul><p>&quot;They only want women to stay at home and give birth to children. That&#x27;s it, they don&#x27;t want anything more for them.&quot;</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/00MN8eAUxho?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Male students also expressed shock at the latest edict, with some in the eastern city of Jalalabad boycotting their exams in protest. </p><p>&quot;It really expresses their illiteracy and low knowledge of Islam and human rights,&quot; said one male university student, asking not to be named.</p><p>At least two male university lecturers in Kabul announced they were quitting in protest. </p><p>Most private and government universities are closed for a few weeks over winter, although campuses generally remain open to students and staff.</p><p>&quot;We are doomed. We have lost everything,&quot; said one Kabul student, who asked not to be identified.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/10/22/taliban-bans-women-from-amusement-parks">Taliban bans women from amusement parks in Afghanistan</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;Deeply alarmed&#x27; </strong></div><p>The decision to bar women from universities came late Tuesday in a terse announcement from Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the minister for higher education.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/07/22/taliban-order-afghan-women-to-cover-fully-in-public">Taliban order Afghan women to cover fully in public</a></li></ul><p>&quot;You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,&quot; he said.</p><p>On Wednesday, the foreign ministers from a host of governments including all Group of Seven members, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the European Union warned the move would have &quot;consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban&quot;.</p><p>The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said the ban was &quot;seriously denting the credibility of the government&quot;.</p><p>Muslim nation Qatar -- which has played a key role in facilitating talks between the West and the Taliban -- said everyone deserves the right to education and urged Afghanistan&#x27;s rulers to review the decision &quot;in line&quot; with Islamic teachings.</p><p>The decision comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women were allowed to sit for university entrance exams across the country.</p><p>&quot;Just think of all the female doctors, lawyers and teachers who have been, and who will be, lost to the development of the country,&quot; said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a statement.</p><p>After the Taliban takeover in August last year, universities were forced to implement new rules including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, while women were only permitted to be taught by professors of the same sex, or old men.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Serious differences&#x27;</strong></div><p>The Taliban adhere to an austere version of Islam, with the movement&#x27;s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and his inner circle of clerics against modern education, especially for girls and women. </p><p>But they are at odds with many officials in Kabul -- and among their rank and file -- who had hoped girls would be allowed to continue learning following the takeover. </p><p>&quot;The latest decision will increase these differences,&quot; a Taliban commander based in northwest Pakistan told AFP on condition of anonymity.</p><p>Most teenage girls across the country were banned from secondary school in March, severely limiting university intake.</p><p>Since the ban, many teenage girls have been married off early -- often to much older men chosen by their fathers.</p><p>Several families interviewed by AFP last month said the school ban, coupled with economic pressure, meant securing their daughters&#x27; future through marriage was better than them sitting idle at home. </p><p>Women have also been pushed out of many government jobs -- or are being paid a fraction of their former salary to stay at home. They are also barred from travelling without a male relative and must cover up outside of the home, ideally with a burqa.</p><div><strong>International pressure</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Afghan girls of up to primary grades attend a class at their school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, March 23, 2022. EPA-EFE/Stringer/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/03/26/20220326-afghan-epa-efe-stringer-file.jpg"/><figcaption>Afghan girls of up to primary grades attend a class at their school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, March 23, 2022.<em> EPA-EFE/Stringer/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>In November, women were prohibited from going to parks, fairs, gyms and public baths.</p><p>The international community has made the right to education for all women a sticking point in negotiations over aid and recognition of the Taliban regime.</p><p>Afghanistan&#x27;s neighbour Pakistan said that engagement with the Taliban was still the best path forward, though Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari admitted Tuesday while on a visit to Washington that he was disappointed. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/28/22/taliban-ban-afghan-women-flying-alone">Taliban ban Afghan women flying alone</a></li></ul><p>&quot;I still think the easiest path to our goal -- despite having a lot of setbacks when it comes to women&#x27;s education and other things -- is through Kabul and through the interim government,&quot; he said.</p><p>In the 20 years between the Taliban&#x27;s two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.</p><p>The authorities have also returned to public floggings and executions of men and women in recent weeks, as they implement an extreme interpretation of Islamic sharia law.</p><div><strong>ash-est-abh-qb-fox/ecl/sst</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1749070" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Hundreds of young women were stopped by armed guards on Wednesday from entering Afghan university campuses, a day after the nation's Taliban rulers banned them from higher education in another assault on human rights.

Armed guards stop Afghan women entering universities after Taliban ban

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Armed guards stop Afghan women entering universities after Taliban ban

Aysha Safi and Estelle Emonet,

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 22, 2022 07:11 AM PHT

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