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Dear John,
As we reflect on and celebrate women this month, it is hard for us not to think about women in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban took power by force on August 15, 2021, it has launched a campaign against women and girls, eliminating them from society. The regime has severely restricted women’s education, employment, and even mobility. Afghan women and girls cannot attend school past the 6th grade, cannot seek employment, and have been blocked from every opportunity to better their lives and the communities in which they live.
The Taliban’s extreme edicts and radical treatment of women have led to gross human suffering. The economy in Afghanistan is collapsing and 28 million Afghans – mostly women and children – need humanitarian aid. Six million of them are close to famine.
But Afghan women will not be silenced. Since the Taliban takeover, courageous Afghan women have been fighting for their freedom and equality across their country. Some have been thrown in prison and tortured, some are missing, and some have even been killed. But still, the protests go on.
And today I hope you’ll do two things to support them.
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First Learn more about the important Campaign for Afghan Women & Girls the Feminist Majority Foundation is leading. |
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Then... Please add your name to the growing list of people who are urging President Biden and the UN to NOT recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government in Afghanistan. |
Afghan women and girls’ courage and determination not to back down and continue to build on the progress is inspiring. We must urge the US and the UN to NOT recognize the Taliban regime as a legitimate government. Recognition is a critical designation that must not be awarded to a group that has reinstituted gender apartheid.
Since 1997, Feminist Majority Foundation’s campaign for Afghan women and girls has worked to call global attention to the gender apartheid of the first Taliban regime and its horrific violations of women’s rights. Today, we must continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with these brave women and girls and do all we can to amplify their voices.
The Taliban has reinstituted gender apartheid and has created a system in which women are systematically treated as less than human. We cannot ignore this treatment of women and girls. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans women and girls from education and employment. The Afghan people are not accepting this, and we must not either.
In solidarity,
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