> Afghanistan’s former policewomen fear for their lives under the Taliban and have been forced into hiding, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch, which calls on countries such as Canada that helped train and hire Afghan women, to prioritize them for resettlement.
> The rights organization released a report on Thursday detailing the dangers that Afghan policewomen have faced since the Taliban seized control of the country in 2021. The report said that the Taliban have been threatening them and that they also face retribution from their own families.
> The report said that hundreds of policewomen employed by the former government experienced sexual harassment and assault, including rape, from their male colleagues and supervisors who were never held responsible. Former policewomen described the mental trauma that they’ve endured because of the abuse. In addition, their families have rejected them over perceived shame.
> Afghan women have been betrayed twice, Human Rights Watch said, first by the former Afghan government, which allowed sexual abuse against the female officers to go on, and secondly by countries that ignored the abuse and have not resettled them.
> Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, said there has been no effort to evacuate these women.
> In the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover, former Afghan policewomen went into hiding and didn’t have anyone looking out for them, she said. Non-governmental organizations helping rescue others did not have these women on their list; they have fallen through the cracks.
> […]
> Ms. Abbasi said that in January, 2021, months before the Taliban takeover, there were 3,800 female police officers in Afghanistan. She emphasized that there are only a few thousand women, both in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries, who need to be resettled.
> “Being a woman in Afghanistan these days, you don’t have any rights, but imagine being a woman who has worked for the security forces.”
> Ms. Abbasi recalled one woman telling her that before the takeover, she could help support her family and was respected. But since then, her husband has been abusing her, has told her that he had never wanted her to work for the police, and because of her, their family can’t go anywhere.
> Women also expressed feeling depressed and anxious, Ms. Abbasi said, because they live in constant fear.
2 Comments
Archived version: [https://archive.fo/dd00n](https://archive.fo/dd00n)
Summary:
> Afghanistan’s former policewomen fear for their lives under the Taliban and have been forced into hiding, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch, which calls on countries such as Canada that helped train and hire Afghan women, to prioritize them for resettlement.
> The rights organization released a report on Thursday detailing the dangers that Afghan policewomen have faced since the Taliban seized control of the country in 2021. The report said that the Taliban have been threatening them and that they also face retribution from their own families.
> The report said that hundreds of policewomen employed by the former government experienced sexual harassment and assault, including rape, from their male colleagues and supervisors who were never held responsible. Former policewomen described the mental trauma that they’ve endured because of the abuse. In addition, their families have rejected them over perceived shame.
> Afghan women have been betrayed twice, Human Rights Watch said, first by the former Afghan government, which allowed sexual abuse against the female officers to go on, and secondly by countries that ignored the abuse and have not resettled them.
> Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, said there has been no effort to evacuate these women.
> In the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover, former Afghan policewomen went into hiding and didn’t have anyone looking out for them, she said. Non-governmental organizations helping rescue others did not have these women on their list; they have fallen through the cracks.
> […]
> Ms. Abbasi said that in January, 2021, months before the Taliban takeover, there were 3,800 female police officers in Afghanistan. She emphasized that there are only a few thousand women, both in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries, who need to be resettled.
> “Being a woman in Afghanistan these days, you don’t have any rights, but imagine being a woman who has worked for the security forces.”
> Ms. Abbasi recalled one woman telling her that before the takeover, she could help support her family and was respected. But since then, her husband has been abusing her, has told her that he had never wanted her to work for the police, and because of her, their family can’t go anywhere.
> Women also expressed feeling depressed and anxious, Ms. Abbasi said, because they live in constant fear.
Further readings:
[https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/10/10/double-betrayal/abuses-against-afghan-policewomen-past-and-present](https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/10/10/double-betrayal/abuses-against-afghan-policewomen-past-and-present)
[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-afghan-refugee-crisis-is-a-migratory-time-bomb-that-may-soon-go/](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-afghan-refugee-crisis-is-a-migratory-time-bomb-that-may-soon-go/)
[https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/pakistan-government-must-halt-deportation-of-afghan-refugees/](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/pakistan-government-must-halt-deportation-of-afghan-refugees/)
[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/30/pakistan-to-start-second-phase-of-afghan-deportations](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/30/pakistan-to-start-second-phase-of-afghan-deportations)
!ping Foreign-policy&Immigration
How do evacuations from Afghanistan work? My understanding is that the Taliban doesn’t let people leave.