Nadia Nadim on women’s football in Afghanistan one year on from Taliban takeover
After several years of intense violence, the Taliban have now been driven out of Pashtun areas of the country and a more peaceful political scene returns. However, Nadia Nadim explores the impact the invasion of the Taliban had on women
When, late last year, the Taliban launched surprise attacks in the capital, Kabul, they did so in a bid to capture the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. While the army claimed victory, the Taliban, still entrenched in the country, claimed that their forces had killed more than 50,000 civilians in the first week of the attack.
The government and the country’s media were quick to condemn the Taliban – yet, with each passing day, the government’s official numbers of casualties steadily rose and the Taliban’s increasingly shaky control of the country was recognised. At the heart of the debate was the question of women’s rights, not only after the Taliban’s declaration of a state in Afghanistan, but even before.
A year on from the Taliban’s declaration of the state, they have now been driven out of Pashtun areas of the country and a more peaceful political scene returns. However, Nadia Nadim explores the impact the invasion of the Taliban had on women. We talk to Nadia about the Taliban’s impact on women, gender roles, and how women’s football could help bring the country together.
Focusing on the Taliban’s impact on women in Afghanistan
How do you think the Taliban’s declaration of the country has affected women in Afghanistan?
I think the Taliban was the trigger to open the Pandora’s Box to all the questions that are surrounding gender and women in Afghanistan; the way life is today. The Taliban really brought out the deep-rooted issues in Afghanistan women and their rights and how the government dealt with this.
So how has the government reacted?
The government first of all, has been supportive of women’s rights and women’s issues. They recognised that the Taliban was not supporting women and decided to work