How American Dollars Oppress Afghan Women (Afghan Report 50)

 Note: This is the latest in a series of confidential reports from a young Afghan friend inside the country about conditions since the Taliban took power in August 2021. I am keeping his identity confidential for his safety.

Dear David:

On December 20th, the Taliban finally did what they’ve wanted to do all along. They announced that girls are no longer allowed to go to university. This decision was condemned by a few countries around the world. 

Here, In Afghanistan, more than 30 university professors bravely resigned in protest against the decision, and the male students at some universities staged a boycott of class. 

But the girls I know have become deeply disillusioned by their treatment by the Taliban and the overall indifference of the world and the men of Afghanistan toward their fate. Countless videos are circulating on social media that show girls crying while being kicked out of their classrooms. Their posts on their social media are sad and heartbreaking. One of the girls wrote that she hated herself for being born as a woman in Afghanistan. Another wrote she is “disgusted by the country where women should be imprisoned so men fall not into sin."

Lost in all of this is the role America plays in propping up the Taliban rule – sending 40 million dollars of aid to the Taliban every week. The Taliban gladly take this financial support while they do not shy away from many forms of brutality. They know that the US will not take any practical steps to punish them, only issuing verbal condemnations. 

This in my opinion makes the US government complicit in the oppression of Afghan women.

RELATED LINKS:

• The United States Has Provided More Than $1.1 Billion To Respond To Humanitarian Crisis In Afghanistan Since August 2021 (USAID)

• Taliban minister defends closing universities to women as global backlash grows (Guardian)

• US threatens Taliban with 'costs' after ban on Afghan women and girls from school (ABC)

• Afghans outraged over Taliban's university suspension for women (CNN)

• Afghanistan: Taliban university ban (DW)

• The Taliban are taking away women’s right to learn. The world can’t afford to stay silent (Guardian)

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