There seems to be an upsetting consensus — at least amongst Americans — that the fight for women’s liberation is nearing its end goal. Of course, with the relatively recent Supreme Court Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the loss of women’s rights has been a major point of discussion. I, along with others, fear for the safety of female reproductive rights. 

In this stressful time, I think of the rights that American women do have. Women can learn, work, buy things and vote. On paper, I suppose to many this seems like enough. However, I don’t believe that women are close to being liberated quite yet, reproductive rights or not. Although American women have many freedoms, they still face oppression. There is a culture of disliking women; we can see this in our everyday lives, through the jokes on television, through the way women are spoken over in meetings, and the way female health is not as well researched as male health. Even if women had the same exact rights as men, they would still have fewer opportunities as long as this culture persists. This culture of disdain is what inspires the restriction of women’s freedom, as is seen in modern-day Afghanistan. For three years now, Afghanistan has once again been under Taliban rule, and in just three years, female liberation in Afghanistan has regressed to a terrifying degree.

 It began with segregating classrooms based on gender which quickly devolved into the prohibition of women in school past the sixth grade. Afghanistan is the only country with a restriction like this. Following the ban, Taliban fighters threatened female university students with their guns, forcing them to leave. 

Soon, women were forced to cover themselves from head-to-toe (including their faces) in public. Public places were briefly segregated, but eventually, women were mostly banned from public altogether. The Taliban has barred women from engaging in leisure. Women are no longer allowed in gyms or at public parks. They have been banned from engaging in sports or exercise. Additionally, all beauty salons have been shut down, causing strife for the predominantly female salon owners and patrons alike. Through this, some of the final spaces of gathering and respite for Afghan women were destroyed. Although there is nothing left for an Afghan woman to do outside, to leave the house, she must be chaperoned by a male relative. As inhumane as these changes are, they are nowhere near the worst oppression that Afghan women currently face.

After the Taliban takeover, women have been removed and restricted from working in several industries. Notably, female educators were promptly dismissed succeeding the education bans. For some time, midwife and nurse training has provided hope for Afghan women. Midwives and female nurses are exceptionally valuable in Afghanistan, as male physicians are not permitted contact with female patients. Training for these positions is a rare opportunity for women, in which they are able to attend classes after primary school. Due to necessity, it’s a career uninfluenced by Taliban rule — until recently. While midwives and nurses are allowed to continue their duties, women can no longer undergo the training required to work. The hope that many women had to enter respected professions has vanished now. Worse yet, the consequences of this ban will be fatal. With no new female medical workers, Afghan women will be denied care. Women and girls will die of completely treatable problems. Make no mistake, this is concretely a case of systemic femicide.

However, there won’t be a word of the situation heard in Afghanistan. This is because female voices have been banned outside of the home. This includes speaking, whispering, singing, and laughing. Not only are these modes of self-expression banned in public, but women must stay quiet in their houses to avoid being heard from outside. The given explanation? A female voice might sexually tempt a man to fall into vice. Despite what explanations are given, the only truth behind such a repressive policy is hatred. 

Afghan women did not always live under these circumstances. There was a point when their timeline of women’s rights looked similar to ours in the United States, with Afghan women initially gaining the right to vote in 1919. Although it seems so distant now, there was a time when Afghan women worked, studied, and enjoyed life. Feminism has never even gotten close to the “end goal.” Not in America, and certainly not globally. 

It’s important not to fall into the mindset that these human rights violations are so removed from us because they are not. Remember that it could’ve been you. Remember that the political climate can change; guard your rights with your life, and speak for anyone who can’t.