by Stephen McKinney and Jennifer Farrar 

According to Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prohibits girls over twelve from attending school and women from attending university. This has been enforced by the Taliban who regained control of the country in August 2021. The Taliban had previously imposed a prohibition on the education for girls in 1996, until they were overthrown in 2001. This first period of Taliban rule (1996-2001) was marked by serious restrictions on the physical appearance (attire), opportunities and movement of girls and women and the imposition of physical punishment if the restrictions were not followed.

School education for girls was limited to the early stages of primary school and was usually conducted in madrasas or mosques. Secret schools were established, but this was very risky. If a school was discovered it was immediately closed, and the teacher and pupils punished. This period has been described as the ‘dark era’ for education in Afghanistan. Sima Samar, a medical doctor from Afghanistan, migrated to Pakistan during this period and opened clinics for refugee women and children from her home country. She argues that by 1998, Afghanistan had become the ‘biggest prison in the world for women and girls’.

There are mixed reports on the advances made in the education of girls between 2001 and 2021. They were not as effective, nor as widespread, as had been hoped. Cultural, religious and economic considerations (for example, lack of family resource to pay school fees) created barriers for some families.

Traditional approaches to life in Afghanistan are characterised by patriarchal structures and gender specific roles in the household. Education has not always been seen as important for girls who are expected to attend to domestic tasks and prepare for marriage. Taliban rule has imposed an even stricter view on the role of girls and women in the family and in society. At the beginning of the second period of Taliban rule in 2021, most girls were banned from secondary education; this became a total ban on 22 December 2022. Initially, some women were allowed to attend university but only under very strict conditions. This was rescinded on 20 December 2022 when all women were officially banned. In a country where there has been a persistent lack of respect and observation of the human rights of women, it may be unsurprising to note that when women were able to attend university there were reports of incidences of sexual harassment and intimidation.

Human rights

This ban on school education in Afghanistan is a clear contravention of international Human Rights legislation on education. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, in article 26, that ‘everyone has the right to education’ and that it ‘shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages’. Further, ‘elementary education shall be compulsory’. This was reiterated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990), in article 28, with the addition of recommendations for secondary education. It was to be encouraged in different forms, should be ‘available and accessible to every child’ and should be free where possible. It was recommended that measures should be adopted to ‘encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates’.

Human rights on education were updated in the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015). Goal number four is focussed on inclusive and equitable quality education for all and target 4.4 aims to ensure that by 2030 ‘all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education’. This wording is important as it represents a significant shift to the promotion of free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education for all girls and boys. This is intrinsically related to Sustainable Development Goal 5 which aims to ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. Target 5.1 is to ‘end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere’ and target 5.3 aims to eliminate child and early marriages. Other targets support the empowerment of women through effective participation and equal opportunities (5.5) and equal rights to economic resources (5.a).

Sharia law

In 2021, the Taliban declared that the country would be ruled by sharia law. Initially, this seemed to include the rights of girls and women to education and work. However, the interpretation of sharia law hardened, and bans were enforced. This included a ban on women having access to parks, gyms and public baths. There is some speculation about why the Taliban would wish to enforce these bans. One of the popular views is that the aim is the subjugation of women justified by misinterpretations of the teachings of the Quran. Another (related) view suggests that the Taliban fear the creation of a more educated populace that would be more able and willing to critique and oppose the regime.

The ban on the education of girls has serious consequences for the health and wellbeing of girls and women. There are reports that many are suffering from depression. They are also more likely to become the victims of early child marriage and experience domestic abuse. In some cases, child marriages may be a forced arrangement. It is very difficult to obtain accurate figures on the prevalence of early marriage, but one estimate from 2021 is that approximately 35% of girls were married before the age of 18 and 17% before the age of 15 (United Nations, 2023). It is highly likely that these figures will have increased under the continued Taliban rule.

There remains a burning desire in girls and young women to be educated and the ban on education has been circumvented in some places by secret schools, madrassas or online schooling. Information is sketchy and there are very real dangers for those associated with these forms of schooling. Nevertheless, there is evidence of a resurgence of secret schools in Afghanistan. Some are located in Kabul, in the outskirts of Kabul, in Parwan and the city of Herat. Some madrassas and tutoring centres are running secondary school courses for the girls. One woman who fled Afghanistan for Australia has been conducting online classes for women in Afghanistan who have been forced to leave university. These schools and online opportunities educate only a small number of girls and women throughout Afghanistan, but they offer some hope.

International reaction

Shaharzad Akbar, a native of Afghanistan, is a human rights activist. Her family fled to Pakistan in 1996, and she was an exile until 2001. On her return she worked in various posts, most notably, as chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. When the Taliban seized control in 2021, she had to leave the country as an exile once again. In an extended interview, she expresses great anxiety about the gender apartheid in her home country and the fact that there has not been a more vehement reaction to the plight of girls and women in Afghanistan. She had expected more protests around the world. She voices her concerns with great passion and asks why feminists are not protesting every day:

’How can this happen? How can this be possible? This is the stuff of nightmares. This is like reading, you know, dystopic fiction. This is not real. This is not acceptable’.

Tragically, this is indeed the stuff of nightmares for the girls and women of Afghanistan and is a serious setback for the human rights aspirations for education for all.

Professor Stephen McKinney and Dr Jennifer Farrar work in the School of Education, University of Glasgow.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

References

Ahmadazai, M. (2023) The War on Schoolgirls: Responding to the Education Crisis in Afghanistan. Policy Brief. Afghanistan Policy Lab.

Alamyar, M. (2018) Education in Afghanistan: A Historical Review and Diagnosis. College and University, 93(2), 55-60.

Altinay, A. G. & Peto A. (2022). Women’s courageous resistance to gender apartheid in Afghanistan: A conversation with Shaharzad Akbar. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 29(4), 489-505.

Ehsan H. et al. (2024) Sexual Harassment of Female Students in Afghanistan Universities: A Transverse Study. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 6(1), 83-88. doi:10.1177/26318318241256451

Hadid, D. & Qazizai, F. (2022) Secret schools enable Afghanistan’s teen girls to skirt Taliban’s education ban. NPR.

Mosadiq, H. & Kaandorp, M. (2018) Child Notice Afghanistan. Unicef.

Nasir, E. (2024) I spent a decade helping Afghan girls make educational progress – and now the Taliban are using these 3 reasons to keep them out of school. The Conversation.

Samar, S. (2019) Feminism, Peace, and Afghanistan. Journal of International Affairs, 72(2), 145-158.

Sanchez, S. (2023) Secret Schools, Sharia Law and Civil Resistance: The Afghan Women’s Fight for Education. Human Rights Connected.

Tamer, R. (2023) How this Australia-run network of secret schools is helping Afghan girls deny the Taliban. SBS News.

UNESCO Press Release (2024)

United Nations (2023) Situation of Women and girls in Afghanistan. Human Rights Council 15 June 2023.