Afghanistan Peace CampaignAfghanistan Analysts Network
The most invasive of the Emirate’s decrees and directives have aimed at pushing women and girls out of the public sphere and confining them to their homes. Girls were banned from secondary, a decision that has been upheld every year since its implementation. Universities were initially reopened to women, under strict conditions, including gender-segregated classrooms and dress codes. This, however, was short-lived and female students were once again barred from universities, in December 2022. The few fields of study still available to women, such as nursing and midwifery, were suddenly suspended in early December 2024, without explanation. Most female government employees were told to stay at home and, in December 2022, NGOs, the United Nations and foreign embassies were told they could no longer employ women (with some exemptions for health and education). Curbs on women’s mobility have also increased, including the closure of beauty salons and prohibitions on women visiting parks, gyms and historic places, participating in sports and travelling without a male relative.
These restrictions, coupled with anxieties over possibly being harassed by enforcers from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice when they leave the home, have taken their toll on Afghan women. They have eroded their independence, diminished their well-being and sense of self and upended their lives. Yet, their struggles do not exist in isolation from the rest of society. The restrictions on their lives have not only harmed or affected women and girls, nor are they the only ones who hold opinions about them. The new rules have implications for men’s lives as well and their views on them are critical to the lives of their female relatives – whether they disagree with the restrictions or support them.
Between June and September 2024, we set out to hear from men across Afghanistan about how the new rules and restrictions had affected their families, their own lives, and their relationships with the people around them. In a series of in-depth and surprisingly candid conversations, seventeen men from diverse backgrounds and locations shared their perspectives on these changes. Some of the men agreed with traditions surrounding women’s mobility and appearance, such as hijab and the need to travel with a mahram. Many, although certainly not all, came from families where women traditionally did not work outside the home. Not all their daughters had gone to school. But all of them, in varying degrees and for their own reasons, were distressed by the most invasive restrictions, in particular the ban on girls’ education. The emotional intensity of their responses, as will be seen from the interviews, was arresting.
Edited by Roxanna Shapour and Kate Clark
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