EU Parliament to address Afghan law against women’s rights

Strasbourg (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On September 17, 2024, the EU Parliament will address Afghanistan’s new oppressive law against women’s rights, featuring key human rights advocates.

The European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights will hold a special session on 17 September 2024 in Strasbourg at 17.00, followed by a press gathering, on the fate of women’s rights in Afghanistan, after the recent enactment of the law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.”

How does the new Afghan law impact women’s rights?

The Taliban’s administration recently declared the ratification of their Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, prohibiting women from singing, reciting poetry, or talking aloud in public and instructing them to keep their faces and bodies covered at all times. The Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice muffles women’s voices and deprives them of their autonomy, effectively endeavouring to render them into faceless, voiceless shades. 

The law adopted also sets a lengthy list of repressive provisions on women, including orders that they wear clothing hiding their entire bodies, prohibitions on their voices being heard in public, and further limitations on their movement without a male relative. Even the sound of a female voice outside the home is considered a moral violation. It also directs men to grow beards, prohibits drivers from playing music, and limits the media from publishing images of people.

Who are the participants at the women’s rights gathering in Strasbourg?

The gathering will include several prominent participants. Mounir Satouri, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and a member of the Greens/EFA group from France, will be present. Shukria Barakzai, an ex-Afghan MP, Ambassador to Norway, and prominent women’s rights activist, will also attend. Tahmina Salik, founder of Empowerment for Her and a passionate advocate for women’s rights and empowerment, will be joining the event. 

Additionally, Parasto Yari, an Afghan lawyer and activist dedicated to defending women’s and minority rights, will participate. Lastly, Parwana Ibrahimkhail, founder of the Women’s Movement for Peace and Freedom and a vocal advocate for women’s rights who has endured arrest, torture, and detention by the Taliban, will be present.