By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL (TURKISH JOURNAL) – Since the Kabul takeover, Afghans told the press they have witnessed a number of disconcerting situations. Torek Farhadi who spoke to TRT World on Monday, said that despite Taliban assurances that women would be allowed to work and attend school – eyewitnesses have reported the opposite. Farhadi said Afghans reported girls taken away from their families, schools burned, girls faking marriage certificates to avoid being forcibly married off to Taliban soldiers and women at workplaces being told to return home until further notice.
Meanwhile, Mariam Wardak, in Washington D.C. and the founder of Her Afghanistan who spoke to TRT World, said the situation for women and girls is of the utmost concern, since in Afghanistan, a majority of them are the “matriarch of the household” and the “sole provider” for their family. She said among those in her organization on the ground in Afghanistan they feel a “sense of loss” and a “betrayal” by the previous Afghan government. Wardak added that the one ray of hope for women and girls is the tribal elders in Afghanistan. She said that tribal elders are very well respected by the Taliban leadership and in some cases she said that tribal elders forced the Taliban to send the girls to attend school. Wardak said that in those instances, the Taliban did allow them to attend school and further explained that tribal elders there have a “huge influence on the Taliban.” She also said that her organization is calling on all scholars of Islam to point out why it’s important for women to work and have an important role in society. Wardak explained that in Islam, women have important roles.
