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How the Talibans are erasing Afghan women

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In the heart of Central Asia, a chilling magic trick is unfolding. The magicians? The Taliban. Their unwilling assistants? The women of Afghanistan. The illusion? Making half the population vanish before our very eyes.

Afghan burqa-clad women are pictured at a market in Kabul on December 20, 2021.

This isn’t a whimsical street performance or a Vegas spectacle. It’s a grim reality that’s unfolding daily in the streets of Kabul, the classrooms of Herat, and the households of Kandahar. As the world watches, Afghan women are being systematically erased from public life, their rights and freedoms disappearing faster than a rabbit in a hat.

Imagine waking up one day to find your identity, your dreams, and your very existence being systematically erased. This is the nightmare Afghan women are living.

Girls vanish from schools and universities. Another wave, and women disappear from offices and public spaces. A final flourish, and female voices are silenced in the media and corridors of power.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Afghan girls dreamed of becoming doctors, engineers, and leaders. Now, those dreams have been locked away, replaced by the harsh reality of closed school gates and empty university halls. The Taliban’s ban on secondary and higher education for girls is not just a policy — it’s a deliberate attempt to keep women in the dark, denying them the light of knowledge…

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Astra Politics by Antonio De Santis
Astra Politics by Antonio De Santis

Written by Astra Politics by Antonio De Santis

Globetrotting PPE student by day, international relations aficionado by night. That’s the gist of me in a nutshell

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