Women's Rights and the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) - Global Research
Global ResearchDec 23, 2022
Taliban Arrests Prominent Afghan Girls' Education Activist in Kabul
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Image copyright: AFP [via Al Jazeera]
The Facts
The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Tuesday that the well-known advocate for girls' education, Matiullah Wesa, was detained a day earlier in Kabul, urging the Taliban-appointed authorities to clarify his whereabouts and the reason for his arrest.
The founder of the PenPath charity was reportedly arrested after coming out of a mosque, and his house was raided, becoming the latest women's education activist to be detained in Afghanistan. His brothers were also briefly detained and then released with a warning.
The Spin
Republican narrative
The current attacks on girls' and women's rights in Afghanistan are a direct result of the Biden administration's disastrous decision to withdraw from the country. His administration may pontificate about women's rights, but it has no way of enforcing them without troops on the ground.
Democratic narrative
While US involvement in Afghanistan saw significant gains for women's rights, the fact that Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly following its withdrawal indicates that the yields weren't sustainable without an indefinite US presence, which itself wasn't sustainable or realistic.
