The Taliban is removing every shred of freedom from women
Three years after America’s withdrawal, the situation is grim
美国撤军三年后，情况非常糟糕。
2024年9月19日 06:21 上午
LAST MONTH the Taliban published a new consolidated code of religious laws. It has left Afghan women reeling, with many now searching for ways to leave. It also has implications for the Taliban’s quest for legitimacy and relations with the world. Three years after America’s withdrawal from the country, the situation in Afghanistan looks worse than ever.
上个月，塔利班发布了一部新的宗教法典。这让阿富汗的女性感到震惊，很多人开始寻找逃离的方法。这也影响了塔利班在追求合法性和与外界关系上的努力。美国撤军三年后，阿富汗的情况比以往更糟糕。
Even before the announcement in late August, women were banned from attending secondary schools, universities, parks and female-only spaces such as beauty salons. They were not allowed to work in most professions. Now they are banned from raising their voices or reciting the Koran in public. They are prohibited from looking at any man other than their relatives, and have to cover their faces fully.
在8月底宣布之前，女性就已经被禁止上中学、大学、去公园和美容院等只限女性的地方。她们几乎不能从事任何职业。现在，她们连在公共场合大声说话或朗诵《古兰经》都不行，还不能看除了亲属以外的男性，必须把脸完全遮住。
Nasiba (not her real name), a 28-year-old midwife in Badghis, in the north- west of the country, says that after three years under the Taliban she feels “a sense of hopelessness, loneliness”. When she leaves the house, she does so “with fear, shaking, that someone might say something to me or stop me”. Some women have reacted to the latest announcement by reducing how much they go out; others ensure they are never alone outside. Amina, a widow in Kabul, the capital, locks her daughter and son inside. Her children eat once a day, if at all: “If there’s food they eat, if not they wait.”
纳西巴（化名）是阿富汗西北部巴德吉斯省的一名28岁助产士，她说在塔利班统治的三年里，她感到“绝望和孤独”。每次出门时，她都“害怕得发抖，担心有人会跟我说话或拦住我”。一些女性对最新的公告反应很大，减少了外出的次数；还有些人则确保自己在外面时不会一个人。喀布尔的寡妇阿米娜把女儿和儿子锁在家里。她的孩子们一天只吃一顿饭，如果能吃上：“有东西就吃，没有的话就等着。”
The new religious code is a “pivotal moment”, says Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, who is barred from the country by the Taliban. He wants “gender apartheid” to be considered a crime against humanity. Activists want the Taliban to be tried at the International Criminal Court (Afghanistan has signed up to the Rome statute). That seems unlikely. Outrage in the West has been muted, not least as many are distracted by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
联合国阿富汗人权问题特别报告员理查德·本内特表示，新的宗教法令是“一个关键时刻”。由于塔利班的阻挠，他未能进入阿富汗。他希望将“性别隔离”视为反人类罪。活动人士也在努力推动将塔利班送交国际刑事法院（阿富汗已签署了《罗马规约》）。尽管这看起来有些困难，但西方的愤怒情绪有所减弱，尤其是因为许多人正被乌克兰和加沙的冲突所吸引。
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s choice to be permanent representative to the United Nations, says the new code was introduced to “limit” the powers of the morality police, who have become more present in the country. Mr Shaheen insists that the law banning women from speaking outside had been “misinterpreted”. He says that the Taliban has issued thousands of licences for women interpreters. The ban applied to women singing at large gatherings of men, he claims. He adds that women can study midwifery or go to a religious school.
塔利班任命的常驻联合国代表苏海尔·沙欣说，新法典是为了“限制”道德警察的权力，因为他们在国内变得越来越活跃。他坚持认为，禁止女性在公共场合发言的法律被“误解”了。他提到，塔利班已经给数千名女性翻译员发放了许可证。他还表示，这项禁令只是针对女性在男性的大型聚会上唱歌。此外，他补充说，女性可以学习助产术或者去宗教学校。
That is of little comfort to many women. Nasiba says that she has started to think about leaving the country, mostly for the sake of her ten-year-old daughter but also of her five-year-old son, who admires the Taliban. “He sees [the Taliban] at the shopping centre, he sees their rangers and wants to take a photo...maybe he’ll become a Talib,” she says, with a grim laugh. “When there’s no education...no computer classes, or English, just religious education, what else is he going to become?”
这对很多女性来说并没有什么安慰。纳西巴说，她开始考虑离开这个国家，主要是为了她10岁的女儿，也为了她5岁的儿子，他很崇拜塔利班。“他在购物中心看到他们，看到他们的巡逻队，还想和他们合影……也许他会变成一个塔利班，”她苦笑着说。“如果没有教育……没有电脑课、英语课，就只有宗教教育，那他还能成为什么呢？”
