Sean Patrick Maloney: “A woman living in Afghanistan may not work, attend school, be photographed or appear in public without a garment…”

“A woman living in Afghanistan may not work, attend school, be photographed or appear in public without a garment covering their entire body. They must wear a mesh mask over their eyes, they must not speak directly to a man. Certainly there is no possibility of a woman speaking out against these human rights abuses in a public forum as I am now. That is why we must speak for them, and that is why we must pass this resolution which condemns the continued deterioration of women's rights in that country. More than a year ago the Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic militia group, overthrew the government of Afghanistan. Women and young girls have borne the brunt of that takeover. The Taliban has not just stripped women of their human rights, they have made women targets for criminal abuse. Just 2 months ago a 16-year-old girl was stoned to death because she was traveling with a man who was not a member of her family. Just last week one of my constituents, who is a refugee from Afghanistan, told me that her 13-year-old niece was shot dead in the street for going to school.”