Gender apartheid: Taliban allow women to go to university, but separate from men

Afghan women will be allowed to study at university, but co-education will be prohibited under his tenure, said the Taliban minister of higher education.

The radical Islamist group that seized power in mid-August after removing the pro-Western government from power He promised to act differently from what he did in his previous term – between 1996 and 2001 – when girls and women were not allowed to go to school.

“The Afghan people will continue to pursue higher education according to the rules of sharia (Islamic law) which prohibits mixed classesMinister Abdul Bqi Haqqani said in a meeting with older men known as loya jirga, on Sunday.

He said that the Taliban demand “to create a reasonable educational program which conforms to our Islamic, national and historical values, and on the other hand, is able to compete with other countries”.

Young people of both sexes will be separated in primary and secondary schools, which was common in a country as conservative as Afghanistan.

Taliban say they advocate for progress in women’s rights, but only according to his conservative interpretation of Islamic law.

Will women be able to work, educate to high standards and mingle with men are some of the questions most frequently asked by observers. Corn the change in attitude of the Taliban is taken with skepticism, and many wonder if they will keep their promises.

No women were present at Sunday’s meeting in Kabul, in which other senior Taliban officials participated. The Taliban minister “spoke only to male teachers and students”, said a student who worked in the university campus under the last government.

She said that shows “systematic prevention on the participation of women in decisions” and “The distance between the words of the Taliban and their actions.”

The college admissions increased over the past 20 years of Western presence, especially among women who study alongside men and attend seminars given by male teachers.

Corn a series of attacks on educational centers in recent months, killing dozens of people, has sparked panic among the population. The Taliban denied being behind the attacks, some of which have been claimed by the local branch of the Islamic State.

During his previous repressive government, the Taliban have excluded women from public life, entertainment has been banned and severe punishments have been imposed like stoning to death for adulterers.

What about work

Two weeks after the Taliban seized power, some Afghans have returned to work thanks to promises from the country’s new masters, which guarantees that they will be more tolerant than in their previous government.

Other employees are awaiting permission to return to work, waiting to see how the Taliban allows them to resume their activities under Islamic law., that is, separated from men.

In Kabul, a nurse from the French Medical Institute for Mother and Child (FMIC), the French Medical Institute for Mother and Child, has returned to work. “Some colleagues have not returned and others are trying to leave Afghanistan”, explains this woman who (like the other voices in this text) wishes to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals.

The separation of the sexes was already a reality since 2001, except in middle school and elementary school. But compared to 1996-2001, the change was substantial. At that time, girls could not study, except in some local exceptions at homeschooling.

“I teach boys so I don’t know if they will let me continue, because I am a young woman”, admits an English teacher at a school in Kabul.

But the biggest concern of these educated women is the economic situation.. The country relies heavily on foreign aid to pay for its public services, and the reduction in international funding could have devastating consequences.

“Due to the problems at the clinic, mothers and their children are at risk,” warns a midwife from Kandahar. “Infant mortality will increase.”

(With information from AFP)

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