Resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan: Analysing the Status of women during the Taliban regime

Afghanistan with its traditional and religious society is one of the most contested regions of the world. Due to highly patriarchal and traditional societal notions, gender roles in Afghan society are clearly defined. In a society where men are considered superior to women in status, Afghani women have had a difficult time gaining their freedom. Afghanistan has been ruled by various political ideologies over the last four decades, including Soviet communism from 1979 to 1989, Taliban fundamentalism from 1996 to 2011, the US-led war on terrorism after 9/11, and Taliban rule again. The status of women under the Taliban regime is the subject of this paper. Women resisted oppression in various ways under Taliban rule, contrary to popular notion that Afghani women lacks agency and passively accepts oppression. Both patterns of resistance and victimhood were visible among Afghani women, but the majority of the women engaged in nonviolent resistance to the Taliban regime. The biggest question that has arisen since the Taliban regained full control of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul is how this will affect women's safety in the country. The growing concern about what the future holds for women in Afghanistan under Taliban’s governance is the main cause of concern for scholars working in the field of women studies. They believe that in the worn-torn country, the worst is yet to come. These concerns stem from the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan, which stripped women of their natural rights. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the status of women during the Taliban regime of 1996, as well as the growing concerns that women are experiencing as a result of the Taliban's revival in the current situation.