most gruesome acts of violence

most gruesome acts of violence

The Taliban is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement and military organization that has been spreading terror and violence in Afghanistan. The controversial faction had been responsible for the collapse of the soviet communist regime in the country, and it took hold of the country after the subsequent collapse of civil order in the country. The Taliban is named after a large number of students who for, part of the organization and who had been trained in various schools established for Afghan refugees in Northern Pakistan. Afghanistan has been under massive warfare before the Taliban took over in 1996, and this crippled the Afghan economy and infrastructure. The majority of the country could bot access aby food, water, and housing, and the social structures that ensured that the majority of Afghan families were well protected were also severely damaged. The leaders in Afghanistan after the rise to power of the Taliban were very suspicious of the help from abroad through NGOs, and this also significantly limited the availability of certain services to the Afghan people. The Turmoil in the country has further been outlined by the blatant discrimination and unfair treatment of women in the country, including foreign members of the UN, who had come into the nation on official business. The Taliban are renowned for their harsh treatment of women. This included the denial of civil rights and other fundamental rights. The reign of the Taliban brought with it violence against women, and issues of inequality in politics, workplace dynamics, education even in their homes. This essay seeks to evaluate these injustices and further highlight the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan.

First and foremost, The Taliban allowed for increased violence against women in the country. According to, the punishment of women for what the Taliban considered offenses against the law were carried out in public, and some were even beaten in the streets to justify the Taliban’s distorted view of justice. A recent journal provided some of the most gruesome acts of violence as follows;

1. In the year 1997, a woman had the tips of her nails cut off as a result of wearing nail varnish, which was not allowed by the Taliban.
2. A large group of 300 women were brutally thrashed on their legs and backs for a misdemeanor involving dressing code in the year 19996
3. In 1997, five female members of the CARE international group who had been authorized to provide various care services were taken for their vehicle by the religious police. The police abused them through a public address system and went on to brutally beat them with a metal and leather hip almost two merest long.
4. In 1999, An innocent woman executed Infront of 30,000 spectators in Kabul’s Ghazi Sport stadium for the alleged murder of her husband. She had been held in prison fir three years before the execution where she was brutally tortured in a bid to get her confession, but she maintained innocence.
5. In the year 2013, an Indian female author was shot dead by the Taliban for allegedly defying the Taliban dictates. She was married to an Afghan man who had recently relocated to Afghanistan. She had escaped various attempts of execution and went on to write a book about it that was also filmed as an Indian movie.

Although some of the acts of violence were conducted without the official sanction of the Taliban authorities, the mentality that men are duty-bound to control women and this developed a somewhat distorted society that enjoyed engaging in violent acts against women in the society.

The Taliban limited opportunities for women in government and instituted various policies that allowed for the mistreatment of women at the workplace. According to, the Taliban heavily refuted the original afghan laws that allowed for a mixed-sex workplace that, in turn, supported the employment of women. They claimed that sit was a breach of Sharia law. The Taliban instituted a decree banning the employment of women, including any positions, especially in government and politics. This was without consideration that around 30% of all women in Afghan at the tome were government employees and thus has a devastating impact on household incomes, especially for families where women were the sole providers. Although the Taliban leaders assured the women that they would still get their wages of around $7 per month, this was not followed up as the payments stopped as the Taliban government later claimed it could not pay women to sit around at home. Although female workers in healthcare were allowed to continue working, most of them quit their jobs as a result of mistreatment that included abuse and getting fired for small issues. Political affairs for women was also a no-go zone as the Taliban decreed that no woman would be in a position of power in government or any other politically affiliated seat. The continued mistreatment of women, including those who were still working brought about a culture of violence towards women and the workplace rules, also changed after the Taliban decrees. Inequality ceased, and men were given more opportunists and concern even in healthcare settings where female doctors were reduced to assistant tasks or cleaning as male patients could allow themselves to be treated by women. Male doctors were also not approved to treat female patients, and with the employment ban in force, the few female doctors that remained were spread out thin. This reduced access to medical services for women and especially in cases of natal healthcare issues. Most of the women requiring medical care had to travel long distances expensively to receive medical care. Additionally, if there was no specialist in a specific field, the best male doctors could do was give medication without touching or examining the patient and thus led to the death of a lot of female patients who required urgent medical care that could only be provided by a male doctor.

Among the Taliban’s most systematic and destructive abuses against women was the denial of education. The afghan education system had already suffered before the Taliban takeover in 1996 as a result of the country’s armed conflicts in the 1980s and 1990s. Although the Taliban publicly claimed to recognize the need to offer education to both boys and girls, they eventually passed a decree that contradicted their earlier statements as the order banned girls above the age of 8 from receiving an education. The leader of the Taliban claimed that it was a temporary measure to allow time for various facilities and street security to be developed to prevent cross-gender contact. This was a highly discriminative measure, and it further added to the injustices toward women by the militia group. The Taliban also wanted to change the original curriculum and wanted to have total control over any curriculum implemented to teach women so that they could control what was taught tow men in any classes allowed. In addition to the direct ban on the education of women, the basic fact that the employment bans also did not allow women to teach, while in fact, a majority of teachers were women. This crippled the provision of education in areas such as Kabul and caused the closure of around 70 schools due to the sudden lack of educators. This caused women to develop alternative methods to teach, such as the Golden needle sewing school that secretly was an education institute that offered teaching services at home to wallow previous teachers to work. The girls that were allowed to receive education were taught in underground settings where they could not be seen. Overall, during the Taliban’s 5-year rule, the educations systems deteriorated, and a majority of women suffered mostly those whose families could not relocate out of the country.

The Taliban reign also influenced the treatment of women in their homes and, more specifically, Marriages. One of the significant impacts was confinement. The isolation of women in homes caused a lot of mental stress and depression that affected family harmony and their marriages. A survey targeting 160 women concluded that 97\5 pf the group showed signs of depression and mental illness, whereas 71% showed signs of physical violence. Women were not allowed to engage in any decision making at home, and the men had the right to do anything. The rate of increased forced marriages also increased as various children under the age of 18 were sold off as their mother did not have any say. There were also restrictions on women in their homes, such as laughing loudly or staying in a room when their husbands had visitors.Psychologically, this belittling action greatly affected a majority of women .Pregnant wives were also not allowed to sleep in the same bedrooms with their husbands, and the rate of marital violence increased by over 60 %.This could be attributed to the expanded notion that men were meant to control women.Although a majority of the restrictions of women were more public, this interference of their private lives further outlined the discriminatory nature of the Taliban reign.

Conclusively, The Taliban reign was characterized by a lot of negativity and armed conflict, and it was mostly related to the treatment of women. The Taliban instituted the belief that women were in some way lesser r than men, and this affected the country significantly. The acts of violence were used to spread fear among women and ensure resistance. The additional bans on employment and education affected the country’s education system mostly, and the long-run impacts were felt profoundly after the end of the Taliban reign. The dynamics in homes hanged, and a majority of women who were affected by the Taliban reign still claim that the mental effects are still felt today. Although a majority of the systems crippled during the afghan reign have been restored and various women s rights groups emerged, the impact of the Taliban reign on women and women’s rights is still felt in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries to date.