Parniyan Zemaryalai and Zeba Siddiqui

(Reuters] Women protesting the Taliban actions and statements in Afghanistan are having a harder time protesting, as impromptu demonstrations are now banned. Previous rallies were also broken up by violence and beatings.

According to six women interviewed by Reuters across the country, there is resistance within families as well as concerns about sharing information on social media which could reveal who they are.

Sporadic demonstrations by women demanding that the Taliban respect their civil freedoms have been captured on social media, as have the sometimes violent responses https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-protests-persist-posing-problem-new-taliban-government-2021-09-07, drawing the world’s attention to issues of equality and human rights.

Taliban rule in 1990, when they prohibited women from employment and school. Women were also forbidden from leaving their homes unless accompanied with a male relative.

The “moral police” of Islamist militants sometimes used public force to whip those who violated the rules.

This time the Taliban are promising greater freedom https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/evacuation-flights-resume-kabul-airport-biden-defends-us-withdrawal-2021-08-17 for women, including in education and employment, in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

However, older girls still haven’t returned to school. There are no senior women positions in this government. Kabul’s Women’s Ministry has been closed. Taliban claim women will be restricted from working in certain jobs.

It is difficult for women to publicly express their frustrations. Six people who participated in protests against the Taliban’s overthrow on August 15 stated that they hadn’t done so since September.

Nasima Bakhtiary, an ex-Kabul commerce minister worker, said that although there are many plans for more demonstrations, security concerns mean we can’t go out as much.

“We have been the victims of so much harassment… concerning our protests… We have to be vigilant.”

The Taliban had stated that protests weren’t banned but required permission to stage demonstrations. They also requested details on the place and times of any planned chants.

Requests for comments from the Taliban spokespersons were not answered.

PROTESTS FADE

Based on interviews of organisers, posts to social media and advocacy groups, Reuters identifies seven important women-led demonstrations from the period Aug. 15 when Taliban took power, through Sept 8. when they gave permission.

Since Sept. 8, Reuters has counted one https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-activists-protest-outside-shuttered-women-affairs-ministry-2021-09-19, on Sept. 19 outside the women’s ministry building in Kabul after it was shut down. The outside sign has been changed to the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the moral police.

Maryam Sadat is a law student at 23 and protest organizer in Kabul. She said she attempted to hold a demonstration on September 30, but the Taliban dispersed it.

Women are also involved in wider protests. Some of these have included hundreds of people. Many people were injured, several protestors were shot and killed.

Last month, violence against protestors including women was condemned by the UN High Commissioner to Human Rights.

It stated that Afghan men and women take to the streets to demand peacefully that their rights are respected during times of uncertainty.

Taranom Seyedi, a woman from Iran, said she was afraid to protest.

A 34-year old Kabul woman’s rights activist who organized some protests said that she received letters stating that the Taliban had made an official list of protestors and would then conduct house searches.

While she does not know where the letters were sent, she did delete protest-related material from her social media accounts, as a precaution. However, others may have also done it.

Sadat went further.

“Since I participated in the protest… my family is scared, and even neighbours are worried and asking me to not join.”

Other people spoke out about the pushback they received from their close friends, such as Zulaikha Akrami (24-year-old international relations student who worked for a non-profit organization in Badakhshan).

Akrami said that her mother threatened to stop me from going and she said, “If you go, don’t call me mother.” She was referring to the demonstration in Badakhshan, September 8.

She claimed that she was able to recall her older brother saying to her, “If they beat me to death,” and then telling her to go to the streets to get her body.