Afghanistan's women and girls pay price after 2 years of Taliban rule

(14 Aug 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4448928

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Unknown for safety reasons, Afghanistan - 6 August 2023
1. Various of woman applying make-up for woman
HEADLINE: Women pay price for Taliban rule in Afghanistan
2. Woman holding up mirror
ANNOTATION: Afghan women and girls are barred from virtually every aspect of public life with the Taliban entrenched in the country after two years of rule.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Herat, Afghanistan - 9 August 2023
3. Various of teacher Roya Amiry
ANNOTATION: The group's slew of bans on Afghan girls and women has dominated the Taliban’s second year in charge.
4. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Roya Amiry, teacher:
“When a girl does not study, she cannot become a doctor, an engineer, a reporter, and a teacher, when a girl is illiterate her future will be ruined, her country will be undeveloped.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Herat, Afghanistan - 9 August 2023
5. Various of another teacher talking
ANNOTATION: Under Taliban rule, women have been barred from most jobs, education and public spaces.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Herat, Afghanistan - 10 August 2023
11. Various of boys outside a school
ANNOTATION: Foreign governments, rights groups, and global bodies have condemned the Taliban's restrictions on women.
ANNOTATION: For now and as long as the bans are in place, girls remain absent from schools.
STORYLINE:
After two years in power, the Taliban are entrenched as rulers of Afghanistan, facing no significant opposition that could topple them.

Girls and women pay the price, with the Taliban barring them from jobs, education and virtually every aspect of public life, while prospects for change are slim, as the Taliban mark the second anniversary of its takeover of Afghanistan this week.

Female teachers in Afghanistan are now being forced to consider what the future holds for women and girls with education being squeezed.

"When a girl is illiterate her future will be ruined, her country will be undeveloped,” Roya Amiry, a teacher in Afghanistan's Herat province told The Associated Press.

International experts are also not optimistic about the future of women's rights under Taliban rule.

A Taliban-run government higher education official said that they are waiting for their Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, to order the reopening of schools and universities.

Foreign governments, rights groups, and global bodies have all condemned the restrictions.

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