Taliban restricts female students from leaving Kabul for studies: Report
The Taliban may have suggested that they will be taking a more liberal approach towards women’s rights after coming to power a year back, but recent reports are showing that not much has changed in this regime. According to Sputnik, a number of sources confirmed that female students in Afghanistan were not allowed to leave Kabul in order to study in Kazakhstan and Qatar.
While both male and female students were supposed to leave for higher studies, only the men were finally allowed to fly out of Afghanistan, Sputnik quoted the sources in their report on Friday.
This is the latest assault on women’s right to education in Afghanistan after a number of reforms brought in by the Taliban in the recent years. A number of gender-based rules were introduced in the school system and in a few places, girls were not allowed to study beyond the sixth grade.
The reforms are not limited to education as the Taliban, who took over the country after the United States troops left last year, have made it difficult for women to keep working.
According to official data, around 80 per cent of women have lost their jobs in the media sector and when it comes to government jobs, the authorities are replacing them with their male relatives.
In the recent past, the country has also seen the return of strict rules for women like covering themselves completely and travelling with a male companion at all times. According to AFP, the rate of early as well as forced marriages have also increased drastically in the last year.