Since the Taliban's take-over of Afghanistan in 2021, the new government has not only drastically reduced women's and girls' educational, economic and political rights but also resulted in the shuttering of institutions that addressed violence against women. The estimated prevalence of violence against women in homes and public spaces has grown two-fold. Victims can no longer go to clinics and hospitals without a male family member; those women and girls who choose to visit a health care facility with a male family member face greater risks and little prospects of assistance if the male accompaniment is abusing them. Activists are requesting international and foreign entitiies increase humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, in the hopes that alleviating poverty will eventually allow civil society to build back some of the progress women and girls had made in the years before Taliban rule.
Compiled from: Wazhma Frogh, "Forgotten Responsibility: Afghanistan Today," Women's eNews, September 10, 2023.