Afghanistan: Taliban segregate women at universities

It has recently been unclear whether the Taliban government in Afghanistan will continue to grant women higher education. The new rulers have now announced that women will be allowed to attend universities, but will only be allowed to study separately from men.

According to an announcement by the new Taliban rulers, women should continue to study at Afghanistan’s universities – but there should only be separate classes for women and men. “The co-education is contrary to the principles of Islam and to national values, customs and traditions,” said the incumbent Minister for Higher Education, Abdul Baghi Hakkani.

Hakkani announced that there should also be a gender segregation on the campuses of the universities in the future. If this is not possible, universities should first set up alternating teaching times or ensure that the classrooms are separated.

Women and men should teach – according to Sharia rules

The Taliban want to hire female lecturers for female students – but men should also be allowed to teach women, as long as the lessons follow the rules of Sharia law. This also included Islamic dress codes, the minister said. Female students would have to wear a hat. Hakkani did not say whether only a headscarf was required or whether the face should also be covered.

In its first term, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban practically excluded women and girls from higher education.

Marzia Ahmadi, a young woman from Kabul, told the AP news agency that many men were quite satisfied with the rules of the Taliban: “Especially those who were a thorn in the side of the freedom and success of women in society. If we go up now go down the street, we are scolded by men that we have no business being on the street alone. If men were so restricted, they would protest quite a bit. “

With information from Bernd Musch-Borowska, ARD Studio New Delhi