The Taliban has removed books written by women from Afghanistan’s university curriculum as part of a new ban that also covers the teaching of human rights and the topic of sexual harassment. This is reported by BBC.
To the list of “problematic” about 140 books authored by women were included, including, for example, Safety in the Chemical Laboratory. In total, the list contains 680 names that have been recognized as having “anti-Sharia content” or “do not correspond to the policy of the Taliban”.
In addition, universities were ordered to no longer teach 18 academic subjects. A Taliban representative explained that these items are “contrary to the principles of Sharia and the policies of the system.” This decision was another restriction that the Taliban has been gradually introducing since returning to power four years ago.
Only this week in at least ten provinces, on the order of the supreme leader of the Taliban, the use of fiber optic Internet was banned – officially “in order to prevent immorality”.
Although the restrictions affect different areas of life, women and girls suffer the most: they are prohibited from studying beyond the sixth grade. One of the last areas of professional education was closed at the end of 2024, when midwifery courses were stopped without announcement.
Now even university disciplines related to women have fallen under the ban: six of the 18 excluded subjects are dedicated to them, among them – “Gender and Development”, “The Role of Women in Communication” and “Sociology of women”.
Taliban government officials say they respect women’s rights within their own interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law. In a letter to universities, the deputy director of academic activities of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban, Ziaur Rahman Aryubi, said that such a decision was made by a group of “religious scholars and experts”.
