August 15 marks the second anniversary of the U.S. military’s hasty exit from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s usurp of power. Since then, the Taliban has chiseled away the basic rights of women and girls in a multitude of ways, from denying them access to education to banning them from public parks. 

The Taliban’s latest crackdown on women’s freedom came on June 24 when all beauty salons were ordered to shut down. The situation in Afghanistan right now, according to Human Rights Watch, is “the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world. [Any] assessment of the international approach to the crisis in Afghanistan should prioritize human rights, especially the rights of women and girls.”

On June 25, the Taliban issued a statement declaring Afghan women are given a “comfortable and prosperous life” under their regime, despite the government’s ban against women’s education after sixth grade and involvement in public life and work. Most recently, the Taliban banned beauty salons, which allowed women to join the workforce and form social communities.

The statement was released before one of the biggest Muslim holidays, Eid al-Adha, and was given by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who is rarely seen outside of Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. According to the Associated Press, he “surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women.” 

A weeklong special U.N. mission on human rights in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has found an unprecedented level of “systemic gender-based” discrimination that severely threatens the impoverished country’s future.

The United Nations released preliminary findings of the two-member mission Friday, saying the study concluded Thursday and took place amid a long-standing humanitarian crisis and profound turmoil caused by the latest Taliban edict banning Afghan women from working for the U.N. and local NGOs.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned this week that Afghanistan continues to face the largest humanitarian crisis in the world today, with a two-day summit in Doha ending without formal recognition of the Taliban government that has ruled the country since August 2021. Since their return to power, the Taliban have cracked down on women’s rights, including restricting access to education and banning women from working with international aid groups. Poverty has skyrocketed in Afghanistan as years of conflict, corruption and international sanctions have battered the economy. We speak with Farzana Elham Kochai, a women’s rights activist who was elected to the Afghan Parliament in 2019 before fleeing the country for safety, and Jumana Abo Oxa, who works with the Greek refugee project Elpida Home helping Afghan women lawmakers find refuge in other countries.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has shut down a women-run radio station for broadcasting songs and music during the month of Ramadan. Sadai Banowan, which means “women’s voice” in Dari, was the only station led by women, founded a decade ago. It’s the latest rights attack from the Taliban as women and girls have also been banned from education beyond the sixth grade and most jobs, with the United Nations warning the growing discrimination and systemic violence may amount to gender persecution — a crime against humanity.

Professor Lisa Davis, CUNY School of Law, addresses this very complex issue. How can the International Community pursue justice? Full tittle: Reimagining Justice for Gender-Based Crimes at the Margins: New Legal Strategies for Prosecuting ISIS Crimes Against Women and LGBTIQ Persons.