RASC News Agency: On the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8, members of the Afghanistani Republican Women’s Network convened in Tehran to demand the complete dismantling of the Taliban’s authoritarian regime. The group described the current era as one of the darkest chapters in Afghanistan’s history, where women’s fundamental rights have been systematically eradicated, and society has been plunged into an abyss of repression and fear. In an official statement provided to RASC News Agency, the network condemned the Taliban’s widespread human rights abuses, declaring: “With the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistani women and girls have been stripped of their most basic rights. They have been banned from schools and universities, thousands have been dismissed from their jobs, and their peaceful protests have been met with brutal crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced confessions, and even sexual violence. Yet, despite these atrocities, Afghanistani women remain steadfast in their fight for freedom, equality, justice, and democracy.”
The statement further asserted: “We reject the Taliban as an illegitimate, misogynistic, and oppressive regime that has no place in a just society. We call for the total eradication of this authoritarian rule and the prosecution of its leaders for crimes against humanity.” Since seizing power from Ashraf Ghani’s government following the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban have transformed Afghanistan into a virtual prison for its women. Over the past two and a half years, they have issued a relentless series of decrees restricting education, employment, mobility, and even the basic dignity of Afghanistani women. The culmination of these policies leaves no ambiguity: women are to remain confined to their homes, their presence in public is deemed dishonorable, and their voices are to be silenced.
Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, the broader Muslim world, and international human rights organizations have widely condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women. Yet, the group continues to justify its oppressive measures under the pretense of enforcing Islamic law. Many prominent religious scholars, however, have refuted this claim, asserting that the Taliban’s actions are deeply rooted in tribal and patriarchal customs, not in Islamic doctrine. Nevertheless, the Taliban persist in weaponizing religion as a facade for their regressive and ethnically driven agenda.
