In their latest attempt to suppress women and girls in Afghanistan, the Taliban has announced a ban on medical education. As per reports, the Taliban has directed both private and public institutions to cease offering medical courses to women.
Though there has been no formal order in this regard, two officials from the Taliban's health ministry have confirmed the latest restriction.
In their latest attempt to suppress women and girls in Afghanistan, the Taliban has announced a ban on medical education. As per reports, the Taliban has directed both private and public institutions to cease offering medical courses to women.
The decision has been condemned by many global bodies, including the European Union. The EU described this move as a "grave violation of women's rights and their fundamental right to education".
Neither the Taliban nor its Ministry of Public Health have officially commented on the ban.
The directive, as per reports, follows the Taliban’s broader pattern of restricting female education since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021. In September 2021, the Taliban halted girls’ education beyond the sixth grade and in December 2022, the ban was extended to university education.
Medical education, nursing and midwifery have been one of the few educational streams available to women in Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power, until now.
However, as per BBC and other media outlets, the Taliban has now ordered the closure of five educational institutions and halted medical training for women indefinitely. On Wednesday, women in nursing and midwifery programmes were also told not to resume classes.
The EU denounced the latest decree as "an unjustified assault on women's educational opportunities" and described it as yet another "heinous violation of fundamental human rights".
In a statement, the European Union expressed deep concern about the far-reaching consequences of this decision and warned that it would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and further increase the suffering of its people.
Although there is no formal announcement by the Taliban in this regard, two health ministry officials confirmed the ban to BBC Afghan on condition of anonymity. Videos shared with the news channel show women trainees in tears upon hearing the news.
Speaking to AFP, a public health ministry official revealed that health officials met with heads of educational institutions in Kabul on Monday to relay the new directive.
"There is no official letter, but the directors of institutes were informed in a meeting that women and girls cannot study anymore in their institutes," the officials said. "They were not provided with any details or justification and were simply told of the order from the supreme leader, and asked to implement it," they added further.
Since the Taliban's resurgence in 2021, the extremist government has implemented a series of harsh measures to suppress women under the guise of Islamic law.
In August 2023, the Taliban introduced new directives requiring Afghan women to cover their faces and bodies in public, as well as in the presence of non-Muslim males and females. Other restrictions include a ban on women singing, reading or reciting in public as female voices are considered "intimate".
Women are also forbidden from looking at men who are not their relatives.
Afghan women have seen their rights systematically stripped away since the Taliban's return to power. Bans on education, employment and even public speech have forced women into a daily existence marked by fear and uncertainty. They view it as the erasure of their presence from public life.