Hilda L. Solis: “when the Islamic fundamentalist group, the Taliban, seized control of Afghanistan in 1996, it launched the Nation into a…”

“when the Islamic fundamentalist group, the Taliban, seized control of Afghanistan in 1996, it launched the Nation into a pit of oppressiveness and inequality. In the blink of an eye, the millions of women and girls who live in this desert nation in Central Asia were relegated to second class citizenship. The basic human rights that we in the free world take for granted were suddenly stripped away from these people. Prior to the civil war there that propelled the Taliban to power, women in Afghanistan and especially the capital of Kabul were highly educated and employed. Women in Kabul represented 70 percent of school teachers, 50 percent of the civilian government workers and they also were members of parliament, and 40 percent of them were represented as doctors and physicians. And at Kabul University, females comprised half of the student body and 60 percent of the faculty. In fact, the Afghani Constitution, which was ratified in 1964, had an equal rights provision for women contained within it. But today in Afghanistan, girls are no longer allowed to attend school. They are punished. Women are no longer allowed to work, forcing many to resort to begging or even prostitution to survive. Females are not permitted to leave their home unless accompanied by a male relative. And when they do leave, they are forced to be covered in a shroud which is known as a burqa.”