Fear in Afghanistan

How women are affected by the Taliban takeover

Fear in Afghanistan as women are affected by the Taliban takeover. Source: "Afghanistan" on Flikr is licensed under Luca Conti 2.0 Generic CC BY 2.0

Dr. Kristin Bayer felt her heart drop when she heard that the Taliban had retaken Afghanistan in July 2021. 

“The American occupation backfired because there was no real change in Afghanistan,”
Bayer said. “People are dead, and the country’s devastation will fall harder on women than anyone else.”

Bayer has been watching the Taliban’s rise to power since former President Trump announced the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in Feb. 2020. As the Director of the Women's, Gender and Sexuality program at Marist College, Bayer organized a class about Afghanistan and its Wars to help students further understand the effect of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan on the average Afghan.

“People make the argument that women had more opportunities under American occupation, but war falls hardest on women,” Bayer said. “The goals in the war on terror were not precise enough to promote change and the United States lost an opportunity to operate in a non-unilateral way.”

Having focused much of his research on political violence and terrorism in the Middle East, Dr. Juris Pupcenoks agrees with Bayer that until the details of America’s treaty with the Taliban are released, there is no way to know for certain why much of the Afghan army did not fight the Taliban forces.

“The Taliban swept into power through a number of backdoor deals and that says more about Afghanistan than the United States,” Pupcenoks said. 

The Taliban claim that they have changed, becoming more welcoming to the idea of treating women equally; however, Pupcenoks believes that they are only bowing to international pressure. When the Taliban were first in power in the late 1990s, no countries recognized Afghanistan or accepted the Taliban as a legitimate government.

“The Taliban want to be accepted by the international community,” Pupcenoks said. “China is negotiating with the Taliban about investing.”

Still, with Afghanistan in such a fragile state, the country needs international monetary aid, the flow of which has stopped because of Taliban leadership. Since the previous Taliban takeover in 2001, corruption has overrun the Afghan government, building distrust amongst the international community and causing the Afghans to fear the Taliban return to power. 

“There was not a real transfer of power in 2001 because the American presence turned people away from forming a government,” Bayer said.

In Lynsea Garrison and Stella Tan’s New York Times article, “The Big Idea: The shape-shifting enemy of Afghan women’s rights”, the writers explore how much Afghan women fear the Taliban taking away their right to education, health care and their freedom to work. One woman sold her car in fear of being killed for driving while another former public official hid the evidence of her credentials in the walls of her house.  

Pupcenoks believes that the Taliban will inevitably roll back women’s rights. 

“There is now a legacy of educating women so that will continue to carry over,” Pupcenoks said. “Now the question is will it be harder for women to actually get to college.”

Political science student, Orla Haughey, sees that there is hope for women rights in Afghanistan, but less international interest will cause the situation to escalate. 

“There continue to be so many admirable female figures attempting to ameliorate the structural and political barriers women face in their daily lives, notably with public health and maternal mortality rates,” Haughey said. “However, I believe these specific achievements and the situation of women's rights more broadly will likely be undermined due to the current political situation.”

Haughey is interning at Women for Afghan Women to help the nonprofit continue to offer legal support and empowerment classes for both Afghan refugees and women still living in Afghanistan. She is personally helping women overcome language barriers associated with legal/civic jargon.

Dr. Michael O’Sullivan has also worked directly with Afghan refugees through his involvement with the Islamic Center of the Capital District (ICCD). The ICCD helps refugees assimilate to American culture and helps them find a community of others who may have similar struggles. 

When O’Sullivan took a few students to Albany to donate items to the ICCD, many students were shocked by some of the apparent gender disparities that are considered normal in the Afghan culture. 

“Although a majority of the students were girls, there were two or three male students so these students had to face the fact that the teen girls couldn't come to meet any of us face-to-face,”  O’Sullivan said. “For me it was a difficult thing because I don't think girls should be told they have to stay inside when people come over.”
One of his students, Caitlin Whitting, recognizes not only the impact of such nonprofits on refugees, but how much of an influence the refugees have on the surrounding areas. She describes how refugees help boost the economy, build upon the current population and diversify the economy. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to resettle 1,320 Afghan refugees throughout New York state. Even if the Taliban lose power in Afghanistan again, O’Sullivan does not think that the refugees will return to their home country. He believes that the next generation of Afghans, especially women, will find more economic opportunities in America.

“Resettlement is about giving a life with dignity for people who really need it,” O’Sullivan said.

Bayer agrees with O’Sullivan that it will be interesting to see how women will react to the Taliban regime. 

As for the future of Afghanistan, Bayer believes only time will tell. Within the past twenty years of American occupation in Afghanistan, a generation of women have been raised believing in equal rights. Therefore, the Taliban may be dealing with resistance on the ground as women organize protests to have a say in politics.

“The experience of war and previous Taliban rule in some people’s memories may compel greater resistance to the Taliban so they may not be as oppressive as they once were,” Bayer said. “Still, women’s rights are human rights. The international community needs to put pressure on their own governments to negotiate with the Taliban or even go to the International Human Rights Commission.”