A well-known journalist and presenter of Afghan TV Tolo News, Shabnam Dawran, was rejected today when she showed up for work. “The regime has changed. You are not allowed to stay here. Go home,” she was told at the entrance to the Afghan national radio and television headquarters.
The journalist released a video on the web. Dawran was wearing her entry badge, headscarf and long dress.
On August 15, soon afterthe takeoverof Kabul, Taliban had pledged to respect the rights of women and not deprive them of the opportunity to work. This, as reported by the Al Arabiya TV channel and was announced by the radical Taliban movement.
“We will respect the rights of women and allow them to work on the condition that they wear a veil,” the TV channel quoted a Taliban representative as saying.
After the seizure of power by the movement in 1996, women, who at that time made up a quarter of the total employed population of Afghanistan, were forbidden to work. Girls were allowed to study only until the age of 8. After the onset of this age, Afghan the females were forbidden to appear on the street unaccompanied by men from among the closest relatives. They were not go out on the balconies of houses so that strangers would not see them, and they did not have the right to talk in public places.
In Afghanistan, under the Taliban, women were prohibited from wearing high-heeled shoes, jewelry and clothing that allowed them to see their hands, feet, face and hair. For the slightest violation, girls and women were flogged or executed.
Women demonstrated in Kabul
A group of women staged a demonstration in central Kabul on Tuesday, demanding that some of the posts in the country’s future government be allocated to women. This was reported by the agency Khaama Press.
The Taliban has issued a statement that educational institutions are still open to men and women, but they do not work in Kabul. The Taliban met with a group of female doctors and asked them to continue to carry out their duties.