GENEVA, Dec. 9, 2024 — United Nations experts, including Richard Bennett, on Monday denounced the Taliban’s new ban on women’s medical education, describing it as a “totally unjustifiable” escalation of the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights.
“If implemented, the reported new ban will be yet another inexplicable, totally unjustifiable blow to the health, dignity, and futures of Afghan women and girls,” the experts said in a statement. “It will constitute yet another direct assault on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.”
The prohibition, they warned, would lead to significant suffering and loss of life, particularly for women and children, in a country where only female medical professionals are allowed to provide care to women and girls. The consequences, they said, could amount to femicide.
Since reclaiming power in August 2021, the Taliban has systematically dismantled the rights of women and girls, banning them from education, employment, and public life. The reported restrictions on medical training would further strain Afghanistan’s fragile health care system, the experts noted, particularly as the country grapples with high rates of maternal and infant mortality.
“Maternal and pediatric health care in Afghanistan is already in crisis,” the experts said. “If implemented, the ban would compound this crisis, with profound and long-lasting effects.”
The experts called on the Taliban to reverse its decision and urged the international community to take a stronger stance against what they described as an ongoing crackdown on the fundamental rights of Afghan women and girls.
“The world must unite in solidarity and action with Afghan women and girls to ensure their fundamental rights are upheld,” they said. “The Taliban must be held accountable for their actions.”
The ban, if enacted, would deepen the country’s humanitarian crisis, they warned, underscoring the growing need for global attention and intervention.
