“It is better to die than to live like this,” says Nausheen, an activist in Afghanistan protesting against the Taliban. In the three years since the United States have withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Taliban have put many oppressive and restrictive laws onto women.
Most recently, girls were banned from looking at men that they are not related to and from talking out loud in public. As all women are compelled by Islamic law and the government to cover themselves from head to toe in all black, with only their eyes visible, these new rules are viewed as an attempt to hide women away from society even further.
The ban of public speech has instilled fear in women and has discouraged many from leaving their homes. The threat of getting in trouble with the Taliban has caused girls to stop attending their classes and the laws forbidding them to attend school after grade six restricts their natural right to learn.
In this oppressive society, women feel as though they are not viewed as human beings, and are treated like objects. Further, without basic liberties like the freedom of speech or even to exist in public as humans, women are like corpses.
The Taliban believes that these laws are a direct reflection of Islamic law, but many disagree. This “striking erasure of women from public life,” as the UN calls it, is just an incorrect interpretation. Many women believe that Islam granted the right to learn, educate, and work to men and women.
Some are even feeling desperate enough to take their own lives, as they are confined to their houses and treated like prisoners. However, female educators are standing up to the oppressive Taliban regime by starting secret girl’s schools. By educating young girls, women feel as though they still can gain knowledge and then use that information to educate others.
