The Taliban government has suspended university education for all female students in Afghanistan, CNN reported.
This represents part of the increasing oppression on Afghan women’s rights. Girls were barred from secondary schools in March, after the Taliban ordered schools for girls to shut hours after they were to reopen following closures after the August 2021 Taliban takeover.
The change is effective immediately, according to a letter published by the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education.
“The Taliban are making it clear every day that they don’t respect the fundamental rights of Afghans, especially women,” the Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The U.S. also condemned the move, with State Department spokesperson Ned Price saying that the act will “have significant consequences for the Taliban and will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them the legitimacy they desire.”
Despite promises to preserve women’s rights, the Taliban government has demonstrated the opposite. Women in Afghanistan cannot work in most sectors, require a male guardian for long-distance travel, and have been ordered to cover their faces in public.