Secondary education ban continues for Afghan girls

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based organisation, claimed on Wednesday that the Taliban's ban on secondary education has already cost Afghan girls 300 days of schooling, having terrible repercussions for them, their families, and the future of the nation.

Six well-known Afghan women are featured in the video: activist Heela Yoon, journalist Yalda Hakim, journalist Sahar Fetrat, filmmaker Tamana Ayazi, and journalists Yalda Hakim and Zahra Joya. They spoke about how education transformed their life and the terrible effects the present restriction is having on the Afghan females of this generation.

"It feels beyond belief that we could be having a conversation in 2022 about whether girls should be allowed to study," said Sahar Fetrat, assistant women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and the producer of the project.

"We're so grateful to the strong Afghan women who spoke with us. The world should listen to them and do more to end this shocking abuse. Every day, millions of Afghan girls are losing opportunities and dreams they can never get back."

In August 2021, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and enacted laws severely curtailing fundamental rights, especially those of women and girls. They removed all women from positions of leadership in the government service and forbade most provincial girls from entering secondary school. Taliban rules, according to HRW, forbid women from travelling unless they are accompanied by a male relative and demand that women conceal their faces in public, even female TV newscasters.