Afghan Women, Girls Face Deadly Situation Following Earthquakes Amid Taliban-Imposed Restrictions: UN

Taliban-imposed limitations on women block access to aid and necessities causing distress to earthquake victims; More than 90% of the thousands of fatalities are women and children, as cultural norms and Taliban restrictions confine them indoors.

• Afghan women and girls struggling with the combined effects of earthquakes and Taliban-imposed limitations. The U.N. described the situation for women as not just difficult, but deadly.
• Cultural norms and Taliban restrictions prevent women from sharing tents with neighbors or other families, increasing difficulties in times of natural disaster.
• The absence of female workers at aid distribution points and the need for a male relative's national identity card to access aid have exacerbated the challenges faced by women.
• Taliban restrictions, including barring girls from school beyond the sixth grade, banning women from public spaces and most jobs, and requiring women to have a male chaperone for long journeys, have increased the confinement of women to their homes.
• Most assistance in earthquake-hit Herat is distributed through male community or religious leaders, posing a challenge to women as these leaders are not always aware of the most vulnerable women. More than half of Afghanistan’s population of 40 million needs urgent humanitarian assistance.

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