Four Western states have taken a formal action against the ruling Taliban for its “systematic oppression” of women and girls, citing a analogy drawn by actress Meryl Streep, CNN reports.
During a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Streep compared the freedoms of animals in Afghanistan to the restricted lives of women and girls under Taliban rule.
“A cat may feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park… A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public,” Streep said.
Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands have formally accused the Taliban of violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This convention was ratified by the previous Afghan government in 2003 but has been consistently ignored by the Taliban since they seized power in 2021.
Since their takeover, the Taliban has imposed increasingly stringent restrictions on women and girls. They are banned from working, studying beyond grade 6, and even speaking in public. The latest edicts, deemed “absurd” by the Taliban, demand women and girls remain silent in public, citing a strict interpretation of Islam.
Human Rights Watch suggests the legal action taken by the four Western nations could lead to proceedings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
A Taliban spokesman dismissed the accusations of gender discrimination, calling them “absurd.”
