When Taliban authorities visited her house in January, Nooran at 16 stayed hidden in the yard of her parents’ hoping not to be arrested. Her mother, Shahbaneh, was not as lucky. She was arrested for writing on social media about how the schools in the area were being closed down, thereby denying girls an education.
Shahbaneh’s message had stated: “Forgive us, my daughter, for what we have done to you. We cannot escape this savage group.” She was told to delete the message within hours or face punishment from the Taliban’s “Commander of the Faithful.”
Social Media and Everyday Life: A Threat to Afghan Women
The arrest comes against the backdrop of the strict reality for Afghan women under the Taliban’s rule, four years on from their seizure of power in August 2021. In that time, the Taliban have made over 100 decrees limiting women’s mobility, dress, education, and presence in public. Yet, despite promises to shun the hardline policies of the 1990s, none have been lifted, the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports.
Over 78% of Afghan women are now being excluded from training, work, or education. Female health workers in clinics have also had a detrimental effect on women’s health, with women experiencing shorter and less healthy lives, according to the UNAMA warning.
Shahbaneh’s experience is similar to that of many women arrested for minor “crimes,” such as poorly fitting hijabs or remarks made on the internet. Many have been reported to be abused, including sexual assault, while being held by the Taliban. Abducted teacher Julia Parsi, now in exile, spoke of intense psychological and physical coercion during her detention.
Life Behind Bars and Continued Resistance
Shahbaneh was detained for one month in dismal conditions: dark cells with no food or water, cleaning prison floors against her will, and violence threats. She explains: “They bound my hands to my head, they beat me until I wept, and told me to shut up about girls’ education or else they would kill me.”
Even when they are released, women are subjected to continued fear. Nooran has said that her mother would walk carefully through the streets, always looking over her shoulder. Legal advisers like Asma in Kabul say that divorce-seeking and abuse-fleeing women are usually left with options of returning to their abusers or being put behind bars, where physical and sexual abuse are the norm.
Human rights activists such as Zubaida Akbar urge the global community to put pressure on the Taliban to roll back the policies that have eliminated the perception of safety and agency of Afghan women.
No matter the danger, Shahbaneh is not afraid. She intends to demonstrate once more on 15 August, declaring her resistance to accepting Taliban domination. “This does not end,” she asserts. “My struggle will continue to liberate my daughter from the clutches of the Taliban.
The systematic oppression of Afghan women by the Taliban is spiraling further, as arrests, detention, and violence place women in a state of perpetual terror. Human rights activists fear that if the world turns a blind eye and does not intervene, the rights of Afghan women will dwindle, muzzling an entire generation.
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