"Nobody expected everything to fall so quickly": the head of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency unit, the Spaniard José Más, was in Afghanistan until last June preparing the facilities for the impending crisis . Experts knew that the Afghan government would fall, under pressure from the Taliban, not in a matter of months, but weeks. The rapid Mujahideen offensive in Afghanistan has culminated in the capture of Kabul, from where they have declared victory . "The Taliban have won the trial of sword and arms," said President Ashraf Ghani, announcing his departure from the country to, in his words, "avoid a bloodbath."
Since then - although in recent weeks - thousands of people have flocked to airports and border areas to leave the country. Afghanistan is no longer a safe place for many. Much less for women and girls . While the militiamen assure that the situation in the capital is "normal", that the Mujahideen are taking care of "security", and are appealing to civilians, but also to "personnel of the embassies, diplomatic centers, institutions and all the foreign citizens "so that they do not leave the country -" they are not in any danger, the forces of the Islamic Emirate have the task of strengthening the security of Kabul and the rest of the cities "of the country -, four Spanish journalists make a wake-up call (and aid), to "open the doors to Afghanistan and Afghan women."
"We, women around the world, aware that our demand for equality is inseparable from the freedom and dignity of the people who today are seriously and brutally threatened in Afghanistan, and aware, also, that the threats directed against Afghan women for the simple fact of being women add an intolerable cruelty and additional to that suffered by Afghans of any condition, we make an urgent appeal to the international community ", sign Gabriela Cañas, Rosa Montero, Soledad Gallego-Díaz and Maruja Torres.
With this appeal, they ask the Taliban to keep the borders open so that anyone who wants to leave the country can do so, safely; but also so that "preferential attention is paid to women in special risk situations, whether for having performed professional tasks prohibited by the Taliban , attending schools and universities, leading their lives outside of fanatical morality" or many other reasons. This list of requests is not surprising: history repeats itself, and in 1996, when the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was declared, women and girls saw their freedoms deeply undermined.
From free Afghanistan from the 70s ... to now
This image that has been circulating for years and that, in recent days, has been seen all over the world: a photograph of three women in miniskirts , without any type of veil, walking down the street with absolute normality. "When I was a child I remember my mother in a miniskirt taking us to the movies. My aunt studied at the university in Kabul," says Horia Mosadiq. Horia was just a child when the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979; she now works as a researcher at Amnesty International. In the 20th century, the country experienced great progress and constant development of women's rightsAfter gaining the right to vote in 1919, in 1950 purdah (gender segregation) was abolished, and in the 1960s equality was approved in many other areas of life, including political participation.
However, during the coups d'état and the Soviet occupation, and the conflicts between the government and the Mujahideen groups of the 1980s and 1990s, women saw their rights diminished. Under the Taliban regime, women and girls were prohibited from studying, working, leaving home without a male 'guardian' , receiving medical attention from male toilets, participating in politics, speaking in public ... "They were imprisoned in their homes "explains Amnesty. Women could not be seen through windows or balconies, and if they left their houses they had to do so with a full burqa, always accompanied by a male. Disobeying the 'sharia' had harsh punishments: they could be beaten if they showed their anklesThey were beaten if they wanted to study, and stoned to death if convicted of adultery.
Attacks and rapes were the order of the day: a woman from Kabul had the tip of her finger cut off for wearing nail polish not so long ago, in 1996. "My father was shot in front of me. It was nine o'clock. They came to my house and told him that they had an order to kill him, because he was letting me go to school. The mujahideen had already prevented me from going to school, but that was not enough . I cannot describe what they did to me after kill my father ... ", explained in 1995 a girl of only 15 years.
The prohibitions for women
"I prefer that my daughters die in a dignified way before they fall into the hands of the Taliban," says Sara, from Baimyán (Afghanistan), in a series of testimonies collected by 'El Diario'. "Last week I was a news journalist and today I cannot use my own name to write or say where I am from or where I am. In a matter of days my life has been annihilated," a 22-year-old girl told the same medium, under condition of anonymity. "I am at risk because I am a 22-year-old woman and I know that the Taliban are forcing families to hand over their daughters as wives for their fighters. I am also at risk because I am a journalist and I know that the Taliban will come looking for me . and all my colleagues. "
Being a journalist is dangerous, because women cannot work under the Taliban regime . But it is also a danger to be only a woman, to be a girl, to want to be something. The Revolutionary Organization of Women of Afghanistan (Rawa) has a list of "some" of the restrictions that the Taliban regime imposed during its years in government (1996-2001), and that they could reimpose, despite the fact that the Taliban , through the mouth of their spokesman, the 'mujahideen' Zabihulá, they maintain that they will defend the rights of all, especially those of women, although only following "Islamic values": they will be able to have "access to education and work", but always "wearing the hijab". These are some of all those restrictions that could be repeated in 2021:
- Women cannot work; only a few, such as doctors or nurses, in some hospitals.
- Women cannot do anything outside the home without their 'mahram' or 'guardian' (father, brother or husband).
- Women cannot trade.
- Women cannot be treated by male doctors or nurses.
- Women cannot study in schools, universities or educational institutions.
- Women must wear a burqa.
- Women may be whipped, beaten or insulted if they do not dress according to the rules or if they are not accompanied by their 'mahram'.
- Women may be spanked if they show their ankles.
- Women may be stoned if they are accused of having extramarital affairs.
- Women cannot use cosmetics.
- Women cannot speak or shake hands with men who are not 'mahram'.
- Women cannot laugh out loud.
- Women cannot wear high heels.
- Women cannot get into a taxi without their 'mahram'.
- Women cannot participate in radio, television, or public gatherings.
- Women cannot play sports or enter sports centers.
- Women cannot ride a bicycle or motorbike, not even with their 'mahram'.
- Women cannot wear brightly colored clothing.
- Women cannot meet for holidays, not even religious ones.
- Women cannot wash clothes in rivers or public squares.
- Streets named after women will change their nomenclature.
- Women cannot look out of windows or balconies, or be seen (so blackout curtains are mandatory).
- Women are not allowed to sew women's clothing or have their clothes made in tailor shops.
- Women cannot enter public toilets.
- Women cannot ride the same bus as men.
- Women cannot wear flared trousers, not even under the burqa.
- Women cannot take pictures (or be in them).
- Women cannot be featured in magazines, books, or billboards.
In addition to all these, during the Taliban regime, music, cinema , the celebration of Nowruz (the Persian New Year) were prohibited , as it is a pagan holiday, the celebration of May Day or Worker's Day, as it is considered a "communist" party; All those with a non-Islamic name were forced to change it, young people to shave their hair and men to wear Islamic clothing and wear long beards; the five prayers of the day were obligatory and the care and training of birds was prohibited , in addition to the flying of kites.