Author: Emma Anderson

Emma Anderson is a policy and advocacy fellow on the Feminist Majority Foundation's (publisher of Ms.) Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls, working to ensure gender apartheid is codified as a crime against humanity at the United Nations. She has worked in the international development sector worldwide for five years and is an alumna of FMF’s Girls Learn International program.

The World Cannot Forget About Women and Girls in Afghanistan

Almost exactly five years ago, the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan and created the most violent and hostile environment for women and girls on earth. Through more than 160 official decrees, the Taliban have erased women from every aspect of public life. They are not allowed to attend school past sixth grade, are banned from nearly all professions, are unable to leave their homes without a male chaperone and are even forbidden from singing or speaking to each other in public. This legally mandated, institutionalized system of oppression meets the criteria for apartheid on the basis of gender. Despite repeated calls from Afghan women and girls for solidarity and condemnation, the Taliban continue to push the limits of gender-based oppression, and seemingly nothing is stopping them.

Now, as world leaders prepare to gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Week, taking place Sept. 18 to 28, they must not allow the rights and freedom of Afghan women and girls to become an afterthought.