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1 1 (June 21, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelzu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con re sY~n I flesedrch Service horujig Aegrliave le a~m 'e1914 Updated June 21, 2023 Afghan Women and Girls: Status and Congressional Action Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the already precarious status of Afghan women and girls has deteriorated dramatically. Increasing Taliban restrictions have severely reduced the ability of women to participate in Afghan public life. These restrictions appear likely to deepen Afghanistan's intersecting economic and humanitarian crises, which have disproportionately affected women and girls. Despite near universal condemnation, including from U.S. adversaries, and reported disagreement within the Taliban, the Taliban government has been unwavering in the implementation of these restrictions. Congressional attention to Afghan women and girls, a major focus of previous U.S.-led development efforts, goes back over two decades and includes numerous oversight and funding-related legislative measures. Going forward, Congress may examine the impact of these measures and consider other actions to support Afghan women and girls. The Taliban's evident willingness to accept international opprobrium and isolation as the price of their oppressive policies is likely to complicate U.S. policy options. Background on the Status of Wo en Decades of war after 1978 and the repressive five-year rule of the Taliban (1996-2001) severely undermined the rights and development of Afghan women. During their prior rule, the Taliban perpetrated egregious acts of violence as part of a war against women, according to a 2001 State Department report. Based on their particularly conservative and culturally influenced interpretation of Islamic practice, the Taliban prohibited women from working, attending school after age eight, and appearing in public without a male blood relative and without wearing a burqa. Women accused of breaking Taliban restrictions suffered severe corporal or capital punishment, often publicly. The United States and many other countries condemned these practices. After the Taliban were removed from power and replaced with a U.S.-backed government in 2001, Afghan women made advancements in areas such as education, employment, and health care. For example, maternal mortality rates, while still high, were reportedly halved between 2001 and 2017. The former Afghan government, with U.S. and international support, ensured representation for women in government and instituted some legal protections. Still, surveys suggested that traditional, restrictive views of gender roles and rights, including some views consistent with Taliban practices, remained pervasive, especially in rural areas and among younger men. Afghan women continued to lag behind Afghan men, as well as women globally, on many development indicators tracked by the World Bank and other international organizations, such as life expectancy and gross national income per capita. Women under Renewed Taliban Rule Despite some initial signs of moderation immediately after returning to power, the Taliban have re-implemented many of the harsh restrictions on women and girls that characterized their 1996-2001 rule. Taliban restrictions on women's rights announced since 2021 include * a December 2021 prohibition on women driving more than 45 miles without a male relative (the Taliban reportedly started denying drivers' licenses to women in May 2022) and a March 2022 prohibition on women flying without a male relative; * a May 2022 decree mandating women be fully covered in public with punishments for male relatives of women deemed not in compliance; and * a November 2022 decision to ban women from public parks, gyms, and bath houses in Kabul. The Taliban have also severely restricted women and girls' access to education. In March 2022, the Taliban backtracked on previous promises to allow girls to attend school by keeping girls' secondary schools closed, prompting international shock and condemnation. In December 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education also suspended women from attending university. Some Afghan women have reportedly continued to provide informal education to girls in private secret schools. In some areas, particularly where Taliban support has traditionally been lower and where local populations support girls' education, secondary schools for girls have remained open. Some girls' schools have continued to face attacks under Taliban rule, notably a September 2022 suicide bombing in Kabul and June 2023 reported poisoning in northern Afghanistan. In December 2022, the Taliban-run Ministry of Economy ordered all local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to dismiss their female employees or risk revocation of their licenses. In April 2023, the Taliban further banned women from working for the U.N. in Afghanistan; the U.N. instructed all Afghan staff to not report to the office while it considered how to respond, an order that was reportedly dropped in early May. Many implementing partners halted their work after the announcement of these restrictions, but some have since reportedly resumed some operations after reaching acceptable workarounds with local authorities. While further interruptions to humanitarian operations would have negative implications for many Afghans, women and girls have been disproportionately affected by Afghanistan's economic collapse. Afghan women face more barriers to health care services, experience higher levels of unemployment, and adopt negative coping mechanisms (such as reducing food consumption, and selling belongings for food) at higher rates than men.

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