KABUL, Afghanistan — Members of a women’s rights group on Sunday criticized the international community for what they describe as a failure to take meaningful action against the Taliban’s “repressive policies” toward women.
The group, Voice of Afghan Women, led by activist Hadiya Sahebszada, in a statement denounced what they called global complicity and silence in the face of systematic abuses.
“Despite witnessing years of imprisonment, torture, and countless acts of marginalization against women by the Taliban, the world has remained silent,” the statement read. The group called attention to roughly 70 decrees issued by the Taliban, which they said have pushed women into “despair, failure, and injustice.”
The activists accused the international community of “whitewashing” the Taliban’s actions, alleging that Afghan women are being relegated to roles as “sexual slaves and laborers for men.”
Their remarks come amid mounting global criticism of the Taliban’s treatment of women, whose freedoms have been severely curtailed since the group returned to power in August 2021. Under the Taliban, women have been banned from most jobs, barred from attending secondary schools and universities, and confined largely to their homes.
The International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) has also taken steps to address alleged crimes by Taliban leaders. Last week, Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, announced that he had submitted requests for arrest warrants for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the chief justice of the Taliban.
