The Taliban has reportedly prohibited Afghan women from attending medical schools.
It’s the latest in a series of restrictions on women and girls since the group took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The United Nations (UN) has condemned the reported ban, which is expected to negatively impact the country’s medical system.
Taliban
The Taliban is an extremist Islamist group that held power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Further, in 2021, it seized power again after the U.S. and allies, including Australia, withdrew their troops from Afghanistan.
Since then, the Taliban has imposed several restrictions on women, including banning them from high schools, universities, most occupations, and being alone in public spaces.
Senior UN officials describe Afghanistan under Taliban rule as “the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights”.
Education and health
In 2021, the Taliban banned girls from attending school beyond year six.
As a result, a woman’s ability to attend medical school was considered a loophole in the Taliban’s laws.
Further, under Taliban rule, women are not allowed to be treated by male medical professionals without a male family member present. Additionally, in some provinces, male medical professionals are completely banned from treating female patients.
Closure
The BBC and the Associated Press report the Taliban has told five medical institutions to close indefinitely, and that women have been suspended from medical education.
However, the UN is yet to receive confirmation on whether this ban has been permanently implemented across the country.
According to Human Rights Watch, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada announced the ban to the Public Health Ministry on Monday.
Impact
The UN has raised concerns about the impact that this ban will have on Afghanistan’s health system. It said the ban would “prevent a new generation of nurses and midwives from receiving training.”
“It is profoundly discriminatory, short-sighted and puts the lives of women and girls at risk in multiple ways.”
UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennett said he was “appalled” and that the ban “must be reversed.”
