While Afghanistan has largely disappeared from the news, it remains the site of one of the world’s most plagued women’s rights crises. Since the takeover of the Taliban in 2021, women have been systematically stripped of their basic rights and freedoms. In only a few years, Afghan women have been excluded from public life—barred from working outside of the home, prohibited from entering public spaces such as parks or beauty salons, and forbidden from traveling more than 78 kilometers from their homes without a male chaperone.
Furthermore, Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is prohibited for girls above the age of 12. As a result, approximately 2.5 million girls have been denied the right to learn, representing 80% of school-age girls in Afghanistan. In just a few years, the Taliban has eliminated years of progress in education for females, endangering future generations to come.
U.S. Privilege
In the United States, however, the fight for women’s rights takes a different form. The recent rollback of reproductive freedoms is a devastating shift for women’s rights and bodily autonomy, strengthening the fight to restore Roe v. Wade. While we continue to push for change under the new administration, we must maintain a clear perspective on the global picture and recognize our privilege to fight for women’s rights worldwide. Extreme rhetoric on social media that implies all women’s rights are being taken away reflects real sentiments but overlooks the rights American women have. American women have the right to protest and utilize their voices in public spaces to enact change, but Afghan women do not.
The Taliban has not only restricted access to education and employment, but also eliminated a woman’s right to exercise free speech or protest in a peaceful manner. Women who wish to speak out are subject to imprisonment, kidnapping, and severe violence. The goal of the Taliban is clear: to erase the freedom and spirit of women in society.
A World Looking Away
Despite the gravity of this crisis, global attention and response have declined. In American headlines, debates over TikTok bans or the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico often overshadow the harsh reality that women in Afghanistan face daily. This ineffective international response communicates that women’s rights may not be a central concern to leaders around the world.
While other world crises have drawn support, international funding for Afghanistan has dwindled over the years. By 2023, the United Kingdom cut its assistance budget by 76% and Germany by 93%, while the U.S. slashed its financial support from $1.26 billion to just $377 million. Instead, countries should be expanding donations to United Nations agencies, NGOs, and local organizations that operate independently of the Taliban to help empower Afghan women. The international community has a moral responsibility to hold the Taliban regime accountable, rather than idly sitting by and watching the women of Afghanistan suffer their harsh realities in silence.
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a pathway for legal migration to the U.S. for those escaping war or persecution. This suspension will prohibit thousands of Afghan refugees from obtaining safety and security in the U.S., many of whom were ironically military members, lawyers, and judges who fought alongside American troops and imprisoned Taliban fighters before the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. This decision has left numerous Afghan families, once approved for U.S. visas, now vulnerable to Taliban violence and retaliation. Among them is Surayya, an Afghan woman who used to work on women’s rights projects with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. She states, “I don’t know what to do. If I go back to Afghanistan, I will be prosecuted or even be killed by the Taliban.” Regardless of one’s political alignment, this suspension is a moral setback for the men, women, and children of Afghanistan seeking the opportunity to rebuild their lives.
Perspective and Responsibility
It’s essential to recognize our privilege as Americans despite fears regarding the future fate of the United States. The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan must remind us that we can be agents of change as we have the ability to pursue education, speak freely, and protest without fear of imprisonment. In our moments of distress, it’s tempting to reduce this country to its flaws and overlook the constitutional rights we often take for granted. However, this framework of thinking ignores the privilege of living in a democracy and abandons the struggles of those who don’t. We must never lose sight of our moral responsibility as an influential world leader to fight for the humanitarian causes of others.
As sociologist Michael Kimmel states, “privilege is invisible to those who have it.” We as Americans must recognize our freedoms in this country and utilize our platform and influence to advocate for those who are silenced. This recognition should not diminish our legitimate struggles in the U.S. but rather open our eyes to the realities of those who have no rights or freedoms at all.
