Committed to giving voice to 'oppressed' Afghan women: EU Parl prez

BRUSSELS (BELGIUM): Taliban has targeted women and have not even allowed them the right to live a normal life, president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said at an event organised by the European Union in Brussels, Khaama Press reported.

According to Khaama Press, she further added that despite all the promises, women's rights were not being safeguarded in the war-torn country, thereby denting its progress.

Metsola said the EU will try and make the voices of women from Afghanistan heard as it is committed to the betterment of the people and not the Taliban.

She added that during the prevailing Taliban regime, women have deprived them of basic human rights, Khaama Press reported. In a statement to Khaama Press, she said, "The Taliban has made women invisible in the fabric of the Afghan society and the EU is determined to make them thrive."

The statement brings hope for Afghan women at a time when they are allegedly being treated like second-grade citizens and human rights activists are being detained secretively and forcibly.

There have also been statements from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, raising questions on the alleged detention of women activists, namely Zarifa Yaqoubi.

Since the return of the Taliban to Kabul in August 2021, the alleged systematic attacks on the rights of women and girls and the use of violence, including torture and enforced disappearances, have created a culture of fear in Afghan society. Local women of Afghanistan have been deprived of education as schools for girls are yet to be reopened.

The Taliban are also alleged to have dismantled the system to respond to gender-based violence, created new barriers to women accessing health care, blocked women's aid workers from doing their jobs and attacked women's rights protesters.