A Taliban fighter watches as Afghan women hold placards during a demonstration demanding better rights for women in front of the former Ministry of Women Affairs in Kabul on September 19, 2021. AFP
KABUL 鈥� The Taliban鈥檚 effective ban on women working sank in on Monday, sparking rage over the dramatic loss of rights after millions of female teachers and girls were barred from secondary school education.
After pledging a softer version of their brutal and repressive regime of the 1990s, the Islamic fundamentalists are tightening their control of women鈥檚 freedoms one month after seizing power.
鈥淚 may as well be dead,鈥� said one woman, who was sacked from her senior role at the ministry of foreign affairs.
鈥淚 was in charge of a whole department and there were many women working with me鈥� now we have all lost our jobs,鈥� she told AFP, insisting she not be identified for fear of reprisals.
The acting mayor of the capital Kabul has said any municipal jobs currently held by women would be filled by men.
That came after the education ministry ordered male teachers and students back to secondary school at the weekend, but made no mention of the country鈥檚 millions of women educators and girl pupils.
The Taliban on Friday also appeared to shut down the former government鈥檚 ministry of women鈥檚 affairs and replaced it with one that earned notoriety during their first stint in power for enforcing religious doctrine.
While the country鈥檚 new rulers have not issues a formal policy outright banning women from working, directives by individual officials have amounted to their exclusion from the workplace.
Many Afghan women fear they will never find meaningful employment.
鈥榃hen will that be?鈥�
A new Taliban government announced two weeks ago had no women members.
Although still marginalized, Afghan women have fought for and gained basic rights in the past 20 years, becoming lawmakers, judges, pilots and police officers, though mostly limited to large cities.
Hundreds of thousands have entered the workforce 鈥� a necessity in some cases as many women were widowed or now support invalid husbands as a result of two decades of conflict.
But since returning to power on August 15, the Taliban have shown no inclination to honor those rights.
When pressed, Taliban officials say women have been told to stay at home for their own security but will be allowed to work once proper segregation can be implemented.
鈥淲hen will that be?鈥� a woman teacher said Monday.
鈥淭his happened last time. They kept saying they would allow us to return to work, but it never happened.鈥�
During the Taliban鈥檚 first rule from 1996 to 2001, women were largely excluded from public life including being banned from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a male relative.
In Kabul on Friday, a sign for the ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice was erected at the building housing the old government鈥檚 ministry for women鈥檚 affairs building in the capital.
Vice ministry enforcers were notorious for punishing anyone deemed not to be following the Taliban鈥檚 strict interpretation of Islam.
On Sunday around a dozen women protested briefly outside the building, but dispersed when approached by Taliban officials.
No official from the new regime responded Monday to requests for comment.
In Herat, an education official insisted the issue of girls and women teachers returning to school was聽a question of time, not policy.
鈥淚t is not exactly clear when that will happen: tomorrow, next week, next month, we don鈥檛 know,鈥� Shahabudin Saqib told AFP.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not my decision because we have had a big revolution in Afghanistan.鈥�
The United Nations said it was 鈥渄eeply worried鈥� for the future of girls鈥� schooling in Afghanistan.
鈥淚t is critical that all girls, including older girls, are able to resume their education without any further delays,鈥� the UN鈥檚 children鈥檚 agency UNICEF said.