The fate of medical care for Afghan women hangs precariously in the balance as the Taliban's draconian policies continue to tighten their grip on the country. The situation is dire, with young girls being pushed into an early marriage market, where poverty-stricken families exchange their daughters for a meager dowry payment. This devastating trend sees adolescent brides often subjected to untreated miscarriages and lethal pregnancies.
The consequences of this regime are further exacerbated by the Taliban's complete ban on education and work opportunities for girls and women after primary schooling. With medical schools only training male students, a generation of female doctors, midwives, surgeons, and nurses are being systematically eradicated from the profession. This means that once these pioneering female medical professionals have faded into retirement or been forced out of their jobs, Afghan women will be left without access to any form of medical aid.
The irony is that these policies are not merely discriminatory but amount to a genocidal policy aimed directly at the erasure of women from Afghan society. Yet, despite this egregious human rights abuse, the international community remains alarmingly silent on the issue. This deafening silence only serves to further entrench the Taliban's stranglehold on Afghan women's lives.
The consequences of this regime are further exacerbated by the Taliban's complete ban on education and work opportunities for girls and women after primary schooling. With medical schools only training male students, a generation of female doctors, midwives, surgeons, and nurses are being systematically eradicated from the profession. This means that once these pioneering female medical professionals have faded into retirement or been forced out of their jobs, Afghan women will be left without access to any form of medical aid.
The irony is that these policies are not merely discriminatory but amount to a genocidal policy aimed directly at the erasure of women from Afghan society. Yet, despite this egregious human rights abuse, the international community remains alarmingly silent on the issue. This deafening silence only serves to further entrench the Taliban's stranglehold on Afghan women's lives.