The Great American Read
The Dystopia of The Handmaid's Tale

Women's Rights And The Taliban

 

Watch this video from the PBS documentary Women, War & Peace: Peace Unveiled, "Life During and After Taliban Rule"

According to Amnesty International, under the Taliban’s theonomy in Afghanistan from 1996–2001, women and girls were discriminated against in many ways for the 'crime' of being born female. To ensure that women were not educated and prepared for a secular lifestyle that they believe is sinful, the Taliban enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law, which dictates women and girls must be:

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  • Banned from going to school and studying
  • Banned from working
  • Banned from leaving the house without a male chaperone
  • Banned from showing their skin in public
  • Banned from accessing healthcare deliviered by men (with women forbidden from working, healthcare was virtually inaccessible)
  • Banned from being involved in politics or speaking publicly

Women were essentially invisible in public life, imprisoned in their homes. In Kabul, residents were ordered to cover their windows on the ground floor and first floor of their homes, so women inside could not be seen from the street. If a woman left the house, it was in a full body veil (burqa), accompanied by a male relative: she had no independence.

If women disobeyed these discriminatory laws, punishments were harsh. A woman could be flogged for showing an inch or two of skin under her full-body burqa, beaten for attempting to study, or stoned to death if she was found guilty of adultery.

After watching the video, answer the question below:

How is the treatment of women and girls in the Taliban’s theonomy in Afghanistan from 1996–2001 similar to the treatment of women and girls in The Handmaid’s Tale?