Listen to the full podcast interview here…
The Diversity Trust Podcast #17 Mina – No Education in Afghanistan under Gender Aparthied
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Listen to a snippet here…
[#17 Soundbite 1] Mina – The madrassa schooling system under the Taliban
“There’s a high number of newly established madrassas in Afghanistan and they are announcing that women and girls can attend religious schools…is that they don’t teach subjects like English, like Maths, but they teach some subjects in Arabic and they ask them to memorise the text. So this is 100% indoctrination. And I believe that this is very dangerous because they are getting the trainings to become new terrorists like the Taliban, like the Isis”.
Listen to a snippet here…
[#17 Soundbite 2] Mina – On being confined to home 24/7
“We start our day surrounded by four walls of our house and we end our day there. And there is no way and no other place to go as everything is banned. I believe that it is really a prison because we are in our house but we are not allowed to go out”.
Listen to a snippet here…
[#17 Soundbite 3] Mina – How to campaign to stop gender apartheid in Afghanistan
“They are trying to dominate all the women by banning them from education, from workplace. It is really a systematic operation and I believe that, because they are destroying the present and the future of millions of women and girls in the country, it is absolutely an inhuman act. So, this is why I believe this is gender apartheid to be stopped. You can write to the member of your parliament, put pressure on your government to ask the Taliban to stop their crime that they are committing against women and girls in Afghanistan and all this is happening is absolutely gender prosecution and the crimes against humanity.”
Mina is today’s guest on The Diversity Trust’s Equalities podcast, with Series 5 exploring the theme of access to education.
Mina’s professional career was cut short when the Taliban took over in 2021. A human rights defender from Afghanistan, she works ceaselessly to address gender apartheid within her country. The Taliban is systematically annihilating women’s rights and stopping women and girls from accessing education.
Mina continues to fight, in turn both speaking out and taking practical measures to support other women and girls. She refuses to remain silent as a protest against the fact that so many women and girls are oppressed and now simply too terrified to speak out. She does this at great personal risk and is all too aware of the dangers that she faces.
She does everything she can to keep the flame of hope burning for all women and girls in her country. She also has a voice on the global stage, holding the world to account for failing to take enough adequate measures to halt the gender-fuelled atrocities that are happening every day and getting progressively worse. She is very clear that all of us have a responsibility to do something about the situation in Afghanistan and, if we fail, then this could set a precedent for other women around the world.
Mina is interviewed by Annie Moon, Deputy CEO at The Diversity Trust. Annie is a strong believer that everyone can do something to help their fellow human beings and that the starting point for this is kindness. She does pro bono advocacy in the field of human rights.
Further reading:
• What the world needs to do for Afghan women (Inkstick, September, 2023) – https://inkstickmedia.com/what-the-world-needs-to-do-for-afghan-women/
• Malala Fund – Afghanistan – https://malala.org/countries/afghanistan
• Education for girls is not a ‘minor issue’ for Afghans, nor for the world (The New Humanitarian, 1st July, 2024) – https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/07/01/education-girls-not-minor-issue-afghans-nor-world
• ‘No future’: Afghan girls turn to madrassas after being denied ‘modern education’ (Salaam Times and AFP, 20th March, 2023) – https://afghanistan.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_st/features/2023/03/20/feature-02
