As the United States under President Joe Biden continues to coordinate a hotly criticized evacuation effort from Afghanistan after a twenty-year war in the nation, the people of Afghanistan are already living under the horrors of Taliban rule.
This year, violence began escalating across the country, particularly against women and children, as NATO forces prepared for their withdrawal and the Taliban gained strength.
Things are not expected to get any better as the extremist religious group tightens their grip in the provinces they now control.
Increased violence against and subjugation of women and girls has been anticipated by those with chilling memories of life under Taliban sharia law when the group controlled the nation between 1996-2001, and horrific reports have already emerged.
The Taliban has vowed to protect the rights of women and girls as long as it is consistent with Islamic law and denied reports that their fighters were going door-to-door to recruit “wives” as young as 12.
The new leaders of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan have also shockingly promised to allow women in positions of leadership, something which would have been strictly forbidden under their previous regime but which was allowed under the now-deposed Afghan government.
Last week, we brought you the story of one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors who told the world that she’s essentially waiting for the Taliban to come and kill her.
According to Sky News, the Taliban allowed a single female journalist into the press conference they held after taking control of government buildings in Kabul as an apparent gesture of goodwill towards womankind.
Yet the chilling reports of horrific treatment at the hands of their fighters have not abated.
Meanwhile, according to Afghan women’s rights advocate Najla Ayoubi, who herself fled the country in fear as the Taliban takeover seemed imminent, women forced to house, cook, and provide for the militant forces have been set on fire by fighters who were displeased with their cooking.
Ayoubi, who describes the situation for women and girls as a “nightmare,” told Sky News this week: “They are forcing people to give them food and cook them food. A woman was put on fire because she was accused of bad cooking for Taliban fighters.”
“There are so many young women are being in the past few weeks being shipped into neighbouring countries in coffins to be used as sex slaves,” she also said.
“They also force families to marry their young daughters to Taliban fighters. I don‘t see where is the promise that they think women should be going to work, when we are seeing all of these atrocities.”
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