The past 2½ years have presented profound challenges for 28-year-old Maryam Maroof Arvin, who feels she has been stripped of all her rights under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
Arvin, a master’s degree student in a private university in Kabul in December 2022, found her educational pursuits abruptly halted when the Taliban, Afghanistan’s de facto government, banned women from attending universities.
“This has left me feeling depressed. I am under immense mental and psychological pressure, and I feel a deep sense of anger,” said Arvin, who once aspired to become a politician advocating for the rights of Afghan women.
A September 2023 U.N. report highlighted the deteriorating mental health of women in Afghanistan under Taliban governance.
During the period between April and June, the report noted that more than two-thirds of Afghan women reported experiencing “feelings of anxiety, isolation, and depression.”
“Women described psychological challenges, including depression, insomnia, loss of hope and motivation, anxiety, fear, aggression, isolation, increasingly isolationist behavior, and thoughts of suicide,” the report stated.
The Taliban have steadily enforced oppressive measures against women, including barring them from workplaces, secondary and university education, long-distance travel without a close male relative, beauty salons, gyms, and public parks.
Arvin expressed disbelief that all the freedoms and progress made in women’s rights over the past two decades have been eroded during the Taliban’s recent rule.
“I wish it were just a bad dream. I wish I could wake up and return to university,” she lamented.
Before the Taliban’s resurgence, approximately 3.5 million girls out of roughly 9 million students attended school. Moreover, young women comprised 33% of the approximately 450,000 university students, while women held 30% of civil service positions and constituted 28% of parliamentarians in Afghanistan.
Mawloda Tawana, an Afghan women’s rights activist, told VOA that the exclusion of women from societal participation and the workforce has significantly impacted their mental and emotional well-being.
“Taliban restrictions have confined women to their homes, fostering unhappiness and frustration that could lead to domestic violence and suicide attempts,” Tawana explained.
Reports from media outlets also indicated a surge in suicides among women in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban have not disclosed any data on suicide rates and have prohibited Afghan health officials from sharing such information.
Sahar Fetrat, a researcher with the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW), emphasized that women’s mental health in Afghanistan has suffered due to the repressive measures imposed by the Taliban.
“Women feel as though they have been stripped of their right to participate in society. They have been denied basic rights, including access to healthcare,” Fetrat stated.
In a February report, HRW underscored that the healthcare crisis in Afghanistan has disproportionately affected women.
“The Taliban’s restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and employment have severely hindered women and girls’ access to healthcare services. Bans on women’s education have impeded the training of future female healthcare workers in the country,” the HRW report noted.
Fetrat urged the international community to acknowledge and grasp the severity of the situation, emphasizing the importance of listening to Afghan women and other individuals risking their lives to share their experiences.
“Women in Afghanistan are fighting for their fundamental rights,” said Arvin, urging the international community to stand in solidarity with them.
