wereqryan
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Picture: Taliban fighters inside the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul.
In early July, Taliban leaders, who took control of the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar, issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for “marriage” with Taliban fighters.
If these forced marriages take place, women and girls will be taken to Waziristan in Pakistan to be re-educated and converted to "authentic Islam".
This Taliban directive serves as a stark warning of what lies ahead and a harsh reminder of their brutal 1996–2001 regime during which women were subjected to persistent human rights violations, denied employment and education, forced to wear the burqa and forbidden from leaving home without a male "guardian" or mahram.
Despite claiming they've changed their stance on women's rights, the Taliban's actions and latest efforts to commit thousands of women to sexual slavery demonstrate quite the opposite.
Furthermore, the Taliban have signalled their intention to deny girls education past the age of 12, to ban women from employment and reinstate the law requiring women to be accompanied by a guardian.
Offering "wives" is a strategy aimed at luring militants to join the Taliban. This is sexual enslavement, not marriage, and forcing women into sexual slavery under the guise of marriage is both a war crime and a crime against humanity. Article 27 of the Geneva Convention states:
“Women must be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any other form of indecent assault.”
In 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 declaring that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity". It recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war intent on humiliating, dominating and instilling fear in civilian members of the community.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/afghanistan-taliban-women-and-girls/100379914