On Monday, the United Nations became an amplifier of the voices that Afghan women cannot use at home because of restrictions they face, amid a Side event at the General Assembly where the American actress Meryl Streep regretted that in the Asian country Even a squirrel has more rights than a woman.
Last August, Afghanistan has adopted a law for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice which requires the use of the veil to cover the face and body women, to avoid “provoking temptation” and condemned the sound of female voice in publicincluding singing, reciting or speaking into microphones, as an offence against modesty, implementing the most rigorous interpretation of Islamic law.
“The new law promulgated last month formalizes the systematic elimination of women and girls in public life. Afghan women and girls are mostly confined to their homes, with no freedom of movement and little access to education or work. They are even forbidden from singing or raising their voices in public,” Secretary-General António Guterres said.
The event was organized by Ireland, Qatar, Switzerland, Indonesia and the Afghan Women’s Forum.
Streep spoke at an event titled Women’s inclusion in Afghanistan’s futurewhere he assured that in Kabul has more freedoms, a cat, a squirrel or a bird than a woman, since these animals can sunbathe in the street, run in a park or sing, examples of things that a woman cannot do in Afghanistan.
However, the protagonist of “Mamma Mia!” She pointed out in her speech that the reality of Afghanistan has not always been so restrictive for women throughout its history: “In 1971, I graduated from college here in New York, and that year, women in Switzerland got the right to vote. Women in Afghanistan, of course, had enjoyed that right for half a century.
Not in the name of religion
For his part, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi described herself as: “A woman, a mother, a grandmother and a Muslim” and stressed that this does not prevent her from having access to all rights, including the right to speak in the United Nations building.
“When I am here, I can express what I think. I can express my aspirations. Afghan women should have the same right, but the situation is completely different. They are now facing a setback in progress in education, employment and social freedom,” Marsudi said.
The Chancellor also stressed that at least 1.4 million girls were vetoed in secondary education in 2024. This worrying situation requires our full attention, according to UNESCO.
The Afghan Women’s Forum presented the documentary today The Edge of Peace about Four Afghan women leaders who took the microphone to discuss the worrying situation in their country.
At the press conference that followed, all eyes were on Streep, who said that if Kamala Harris came to the Oval Office and asked her for advice on the situation of women in Afghanistan, she would tell her to take advice from the women who attended the event today.
