New York: Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Meryl Streep expressed solidarity with Afghan women and girls at the United Nations, saying a female cat has more freedom in the country than a woman. Streep urged world leaders to encourage the inclusion of women in the future of Afghanistan during an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
"The way that ... this society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world," said the actress on Monday, referring to the Taliban's strict crackdown on women, with rules barring most girls from high school and women from universities. The group has closed beauty salons and curtailed travel for women without a male guardian.
"Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls," Streep said. "A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary."
UN on Taliban's crackdown on women rights
The UN has sought a unified global approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have cracked down on women's rights. "Without educated women, without women in employment, including in leadership roles, and without recognising the rights and freedoms of one-half of its population, Afghanistan will never take its rightful place on the global stage," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the event.
However, the Taliban say they respect rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law. The group formally codified a long set of rules governing morality last month that were based on a decree by the Taliban's supreme spiritual leader in 2022 and will be enforced by the morality ministry.
These rules, based on a 2022 decree by the Taliban's supreme leader, have now been published as law and will be enforced by the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue. The move has sparked criticism from rights groups and the international community. The new regulations extend beyond dress codes, including bans on music in cars and prohibitions against transporting women without a male guardian.
What are Taliban's new rules?
The laws empower the ministry to be at the frontline of regulating personal conduct, administering punishments like warnings or arrest if enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws. It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Women are obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to "avoid being corrupted".
Additionally, a woman's voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to even look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa. The promotion of virtue includes prayer, aligning the character and behaviour of Muslims with Islamic law, encouraging women to wear hijab, and inviting people to comply with the five pillars of Islam.
Rights groups and international observers have condemned these laws as a further erosion of women's rights and personal freedoms in Afghanistan. Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch expressed concern over the formalisation of these rules, highlighting the ongoing crackdown on personal freedoms since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
(with agency input)
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