The Taliban has issued a decree prohibiting forced marriage in Afghanistan, stating that women should not be considered “property” and must consent to marriage. However, it is unclear whether the Taliban, which retook power in mid-August, will extend women’s rights in the areas of work and education.
Hibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s secretive leader, proclaimed the proclamation on Friday from Kandahar, Afghanistan’s southern metropolis. “Both (women and men) should be equal,” said the decree, adding that “no one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure”.
The ordinance made no mention of a minimum age for marriage, which had previously been established at 16.
A widow will now be able to remarry 17 weeks after her spouse’s death, with the freedom to choose her new husband, according to the organisation.
In the event of her husband’s death, it is traditional for a widow to marry one of his siblings or relatives, according to long-standing tribe traditions.
According to the Taliban leadership, Afghan courts have been directed to treat women fairly, particularly widows seeking inheritance as next of kin. The group, which took power in August, also stated that it has requested government officials to raise public awareness about women’s rights.
Two prominent Afghan women lauded the move as a big step forward, but worries remained about whether the group will expand women’s rights in the areas of labour and education.
“This is big, this is huge … if it is done as it is supposed to be, this is the first time they have come up with a decree like this,” said Mahbouba Seraj, executive director of the Afghan Women’s Skills Development Center told news agency on Friday.
The international community has made women’s and human rights a vital component of any future involvement with Afghanistan, having frozen billions of dollars in assistance for the country.
Seraj claimed that Afghan officials have struggled to create such a clear policy on women’s rights around marriage even before the Taliban took control of the country on August 15.
“Now what we have to do as the women of this country is we should make sure this actually takes place and gets implemented,” said Seraj.
The Taliban restricted women from leaving the house without a male relative and full face and head covering, as well as girls from receiving school, pushed men to grow beards, and prohibited the playing of music during its previous administration, which lasted from 1996 to 2001.
The Taliban claims to have reformed, but many women, activists, and government officials are sceptical.
The party promised officials who served under President Ashraf Ghani’s previous government freedom of expression, women’s rights, and amnesty. However, journalists have been subjected to limitations, and stories have surfaced of Taliban members carrying out retaliatory assassinations of former officials. Although the Taliban has stated that it is striving to open secondary schools for girls, a considerable number of them remain closed.
The US has blocked about $10 billion in Afghan central bank deposits, and international financial institutions have halted development funding, driving the largely aid-dependent economy into crisis and raising fears of a humanitarian disaster, according to economists and charity groups.
Seraj believes the Taliban must now go farther, urging the group to issue further laws clarifying women’s rights to public venues.
“What I am really waiting to hear next from the same group, from the same person is for him to send the decree regarding the education and right of work for the women of Afghanistan, that would be absolutely phenomenal,” she said.
Ahmad Sarmast, the founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, spoke on the panel as well, warning that the Taliban had shown no sign of reform when it came to legalising the arts and freedom of expression.
The Taliban shut down his institute and other music and arts faculties in the country as he helped hundreds of students and their families depart the country and fled to Portugal.
He stated he was in contact with several Afghan musicians who had concealed their instruments and were living in fear, despite the fact that the group had not declared a policy on music.
“There’s not an official decree banning music or music education but the practice is here,” he said. “Music has faded out of the air of Afghanistan.”
