Tehreem Fatima
Tehreem Fatima is a researcher and human rights advocate currently pursuing a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation under a European Union scholarship. She focuses on policy research, climate governance, and human rights in South Asia, with a particular emphasis on women’s rights and empowerment. She contributes to international publications and research.
Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that your entire future is outlawed. That is reality for millions of Afghan girls today. Since August 2021, the Taliban has barred girls from secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where women are banned from education. This is not just a policy; it is a deliberate erasure of half a nation’s talent, voice, and dignity. Education is not a luxury or a privilege. It is a basic human right. When it is denied, society itself is condemned to darkness.
The right to education is not negotiable. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes it clear: education is a fundamental right for everyone. Yet in Afghanistan, the Taliban treats it as a crime if a girl dares to dream of being a doctor, a teacher, or even a student. UNICEF reports that 1.1 million Afghan girls have been pushed out of classrooms since the ban. The consequences are devastating. When girls are denied education, it is not only their future that disappears but also the future of an entire country. Afghanistan desperately needs doctors to treat the sick, lawyers to fight injustice, and engineers to rebuild its broken infrastructure. Silencing women from education robs Afghanistan of half its human capital. The Taliban claims this is about “Islamic Values,” but Muslim-majority countries, from Indonesia to Pakistan, prove otherwise, where women study freely and contribute to society. What is happening in Afghanistan is not culture, it is not religion. It is repression, plain and simple.
This ban is not just about schoolbooks and classrooms. It is about stripping women of their independence, dignity, and identity. When the Taliban says women should stay at home, they are not only blocking education; they are erasing women from public life. A girl who cannot go to school is a girl forced into early marriage, poverty, and silence. The United Nations has called this policy “ a crime against humanity.” And that is not an exaggeration. Education empowers women to question, participate, and resist oppression. Without it, they become invisible. We have already seen the effects: women journalists forced off the air, women employees locked out of their offices, and young women told their dreams are illegal. But Afghan women are giving up. Secret schools have sprung up in basements and private homes, where brave teachers risk arrest to keep knowledge alive. Girls attend classes in secret, knowing that discovery could mean punishment. Their courage shames the silence of the world. If they are willing to risk everything for a book, what excuse do we have for turning away?
The Taliban insists that banning women from education will “ protect society.” The truth is the opposite. No country can prosper when it silences half its people. Studies by the World Bank show that countries where girls are educated have lower poverty rates, stronger economies, and greater stability. Locking women out of school will only deepen Afghanistan’s crisis. There is also a security cost. A society that suppresses women cannot be democratic, peaceful, or just. Denying education is a form of structural violence. It ensures that Afghan women remain dependent, voiceless, and excluded from shaping their country’s future. This is not just Afghanistan’s tragedy; it is the world’s failure. When we normalize this injustice, we send a dangerous message that human rights can be bargained away for political convenience. Silence is complicity. The international community must stop treating Afghan women’s rights as a “side issue.” Aid, recognition, and diplomacy should be tied to reopening schools and universities for girls. Anything less is betrayal.
Today in Afghanistan, a girl’s dream is treated as a crime. That is not tradition, it is tyranny. We cannot call ourselves defenders of human rights while watching Afghan women vanish behind locked doors. Every day a girl is kept from school is another day stolen from the future. The Taliban may control buildings, but they cannot own the right to lean. That right belongs to every girl, everywhere. If you believe education is a human right, then silence is not an option. Speak up. Demand action. Education is not a crime, and Afghan women must not be forgotten.
Tehreem Fatima
Tehreem Fatima is a researcher and human rights advocate currently pursuing a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation under a European Union scholarship. She focuses on policy research, climate governance, and human rights in South Asia, with a particular emphasis on women’s rights and empowerment. She contributes to international publications and research.