Taliban Blocking Female Aid Workers

Afghanistan’s current crisis, like most humanitarian crises, can be expected to cause the most harm to women and girls. The last 20 years of war in Afghanistan resulted in over 100,000 deaths among fighters, many of whom left behind widows and children. Widows struggled to survive even before the current economic crisis and Taliban-imposed restrictions on women’s access to paid work. In addition, women with disabilities, whether married or single, are often seen as a burden on their families and are at increased risk of violence both inside and outside the home.

Requiring women aid workers in these roles to be escorted, forces a male family member to essentially become a second unpaid worker or — very often — will prove to be an impossible requirement that forces the woman to leave her job.

In the absence of written guidance, individual Taliban members are more likely to harass women workers, impose restrictions beyond those agreed to, and block women from working.

UN urges The Taliban to immediately permit all aid workers, women and men, to fully do their jobs, or they will be placing even more people at risk.