Perseverance Among Oppression: The Brave Afghan Women Renouncing Taliban Decrees

Ever since the Taliban’s takeover, draconian laws have been imposed on the movement, daily activities and overall quality of life for women. Designed to smother and suffocate women into submission, laws included forbidding women to wear heels, sing or talk loudly in public, have open windows in their homes, standing on balconies, receiving education past sixth grade, or going outside without a man accompanying them. 15-year-old girls are rounded up and sold off to Taliban fighters as wives, and the husband keeps the children in the event of a divorce. 

For most Afghan women, this was a devastating hit to their lifestyles; denying them basic human rights and forcing overreliance on their often strict husbands, fathers and brothers. However, a small, courageous part of the population refused to adhere to the rules. Their most potent form of dissent has not been protesting, it has been educating. 

Although schools for girls were forced to shut down, new facilities under the guise of teaching women household chores secretly sprung up around the nation. One such example is the Golden Needle Sewing School. On the surface it presents itself as a tutorial center teaching girls sewing techniques, in reality offering lectures from professors of Herat University. Participants would arrive carrying bags filled with scissors, threads and needles, concealing notebooks and pencils underneath. Children playing outside the school would alert the classroom when the brutal morality police would arrive. In response, students and teachers would stash away the materials and bring out the sewing kits. 

One of the most unique methods of rebellion, however, have been radio stations. Despite the Taliban’s recent ban on radio broadcasts delivered by women, an all-female station named Radio Begum have continued their operations. With over 500,000 listeners, they have become the most popular non-governmental channel through their delivery of lectures on psychology and women’s physical health. They quickly became somewhat of a substitute school, by releasing 6 hours’ worth of material a day. They also have a sister station operating out of France. 3 weeks ago, a Taliban raid on the station has forced them to temporarily shut down tasks. The station resumed its activity after agreeing to undisclosed terms with the Taliban. 

Directed by Jennifer Lawrence and Malala Yousafzai, a documentary on Afghan women’s lives titled ‘Bread and Roses’ was released, depicting their struggle in adjusting to a harsh new reality. Scenes in the documentary included a horde of women marching through the streets, shouting ‘Bread, work and education’ - all the things that have been stripped from them. ‘We would sacrifice our lives for this country and its people’ they say. 

With the imposition of these laws, many of the accomplished Afghan women see no point in staying in a country that does not value them. The entire female national football and cricket teams have fled the country, along with an all-girls robotics team. Inevitably, this will cause a brain drain in the nation, which is arguably the ultimate goal of the Taliban, to produce undereducated and docile women. Those that are staying, burn their educational diplomas, licenses and awards lest it anger any visiting morality policemen. 

It’s difficult to see the point in education if you’re only going to be banned from the workforce in the end. But education on women’s health, basic science and literacy is invaluable. It allows women to understand themselves, and educate their children better, to stand up for their rights, to support each other. As the famous Soviet era poster once stated, ‘Education will break the chains of slavery’. Progress may feel agonisingly slow, but abandoning education is the ultimate downfall—the greatest tragedy one can face.