The Taliban’s Social and Political Hostage-Taking of Afghanistan Women: A Tool for Extortion ((Report by Ahmad Soheil Parto))

The Taliban’s Social and Political Hostage-Taking of Afghanistan Women: A Tool for Extortion ((Report by Ahmad Soheil Parto))

Since reclaiming power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have systematically and strategically exploited Islamic principles, deliberately distorting them to implement structural exclusion and organized suppression of Afghanistani women. These actions not only constitute serious crimes against humanity but, within the framework of modern legal concepts, are tantamount to “contemporary slavery” and systematic gender marginalization.

The prohibition of women’s education in medical institutions—at a time when Afghanistan is suffering from a severe shortage of female doctors and medical personnel, and when women are in dire need of healthcare and medical services—represents not only a catastrophic blow to public health and welfare but also a deliberate part of a broader agenda. This agenda seeks to culturally and socially transform Afghanistan society into a closed, isolated, and profoundly vulnerable structure. We express grave concern and warn that the continuation of the Taliban’s oppressive policies will lead to the destruction of Afghanistan’s social fabric. The Afghanistan people and the international community must respond with strength, unity, and coordinated action.

While the Taliban’s deliberate strategy of imposing a systematic and oppressive environment has deprived women of their fundamental rights, efforts by Afghanistani women and girls over the past three years to circumvent these restrictions have, unintentionally, contributed to the endurance of the Taliban’s self-proclaimed regime. Adopting a passive approach or attempting to adapt to these systemic oppressions not only exacerbates violations of women’s basic rights but also normalizes and accelerates the expansion of these deprivations.

A conscious, decisive, and well-organized struggle aimed at overthrowing the Taliban’s illegitimate regime is essential. Silence, passivity, and expressions of despair—forms of inaction that only reinforce the Taliban’s dictatorship—must be replaced by active resistance. The Afghanistan people, especially women, must unite in a proactive fight to reclaim their trampled rights before the crisis deepens further.

We, Afghanistan women, emphasize from within Afghanistan that every tear shed and every plea made are drowned out by the call for resistance. The Taliban’s policies of diminishing and reducing the human and Islamic rights and freedoms of the Afghanistan people—particularly women—into a few limited privileges or mere “crumbs of survival” confine women to traditional, discriminatory roles. These policies steer women away from the path of active and sustained struggle for their fundamental rights and freedoms.

The ban on women’s education in medical institutions, coinciding with Afghanistan’s referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), highlights not only the Taliban’s social and political hostage-taking of Afghanistani women but also the dire situation of the Afghanistan people as a whole. This requires intensified political and legal responses, including comprehensive travel bans, the freezing of Taliban leaders’ foreign assets, expedited ICC arrest warrants for Taliban officials, and the immediate cessation of appeasement and engagement with the Taliban’s illegitimate regime.

We call on the United Nations Security Council and the ICC to take decisive actions. Additionally, we urge other nations to formally submit complaints to the ICC regarding the Taliban’s crimes.