RASC News Agency: Belgian Senator Viviane Teitelbaum has issued a sobering warning about the worsening plight of Afghanistani women under Taliban rule, describing the current situation as nothing short of “gender apartheid.” In an interview with international media, Teitelbaum condemned the Taliban’s draconian policies as a deliberate attempt to erase women from public life and denounced the regime for turning millions of women into “invisible ghosts.” “Afghanistan is now governed by a regime that systematically dehumanizes women,” she said. “We are witnessing the institutionalization of gender-based oppression, where Afghanistani women are stripped of their fundamental human rights and excluded from every sphere of life.”
According to Senator Teitelbaum, Afghanistani women are now denied access to education, employment, public health services, and even the basic right to appear or speak in public. “They are confined to their homes, denied any social visibility, and forbidden from contributing to society in any meaningful way,” she emphasized. “This is not governance it is a slow-motion erasure of half the population.” She pointed out that the Taliban’s restrictions have reached absurd extremes: women are banned from parks, gyms, public baths, and even graveyards. These policies, Teitelbaum argued, represent not only a cultural assault but a humanitarian catastrophe. “The Taliban’s war on women is not just about ideology; it’s about power. They are enforcing total control by reducing women to shadows deprived of agency, rights, and dignity.”
One of the most devastating consequences, she noted, is the Taliban’s ban on female education, including in critical fields such as medicine. As a result, Afghanistan now faces a rapidly deteriorating healthcare system. “We are already seeing the repercussions,” she warned. “The maternal and infant mortality rates are skyrocketing because there are not enough trained female medical professionals. The Taliban’s misogyny is literally killing women and children.” International health and human rights organizations have issued urgent alerts, calling the Taliban’s policies both a violation of international law and a catalyst for long-term national collapse. Religious scholars and Islamic jurists across the Muslim world have also condemned the Taliban’s actions as contrary to the true teachings of Islam.
Yet, despite mounting pressure, the Taliban have not only refused to roll back their anti-woman edicts, but in many cases, have further entrenched them. “This regime thrives on fear and submission,” Teitelbaum said. “Its survival depends on silencing women and stripping them of visibility, freedom, and hope.” The Belgian senator cautioned that the continued subjugation of women under Taliban rule poses an existential threat not only to Afghanistan’s social fabric but to regional stability and international security. “We must understand that what is happening to Afghanistani women is not an isolated human rights issue it is a geopolitical alarm bell,” she declared.
Calling for swift and coordinated international action, Teitelbaum urged global leaders to go beyond rhetorical condemnation and adopt concrete measures, including targeted sanctions, diplomatic isolation of the Taliban leadership, and the redirection of humanitarian aid through independent, non-governmental channels. “This regime must be denied legitimacy at every level,” she insisted. “There can be no negotiation, no recognition, no normalization with a government that sustains itself through the elimination of women.” Teitelbaum concluded with a powerful message of solidarity:
“To the women of Afghanistan we see you, we hear you, and we will not abandon you. Your resistance is our moral call to action.”
