Taliban investigates allegations of fair treatment of women
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Victims of female equality pause for a #MeToo, #NotMyTaliban group photo.
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban is investigating allegations that women are being treated fairly within one of its Tax Collection units.
The Taliban announced the probe in a formal motion to the International Criminal Court to investigate "crimes against our humanity."
According to a report filed by the Department of Taliban Internal Affairs Investigation and Oversight Agency For Inequality of Equality, the investigation began after a data analyst within the Taliban Revenue Service filed an Inhuman Resources complaint alleging a woman asked him for the time. The report includes allegations of opinions, conversations, and friendships within the TRS.
“I was just standing there, contemplating how young is young enough to marry off a daughter, when she just started speaking to me,” said the complainant, who asked not to be identified for fear of being executed for talking to a woman. “Out of nowhere!”
Taliban 15-6 Investigators have been tasked with identifying the extent of the equality and gathering evidence against those found responsible. The evidence will eventually be brought in front of the Supreme Court of the Taliban, which handles all equality cases within Afghanistan.
Taliban officials have remained silent on the details of the harassment, but the Executive Vice Coordinator of Interdepartmental Facilitation and Strategic Arrangement for the Taliban, Mullah Hamid Akhundzadai, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the Department for the Office of Internal Compliance and Policing, a dependent agency, "will investigate the allegations and ensure that every Taliban fighter feels safe in his workplace."
"A man should feel safe as he walks down the street, not agonizing that a woman could be around any corner,” Akhundzadai said. “He should be able to buy a latte without a woman daring to stand in the same cafe. He should be able to harass women without being harassed by her presence. If we don't start respecting the men who carry the seed of our children, we are doomed as a society."
Sources in the Taliban say that equality can have a significant impact on “the well-being and morale of Taliban Soldiers and Accountants. It can undermine the trust and cohesion necessary for successful government operations.”
The investigation is ongoing and will be a bureaucratic test for the Taliban, who regained control of Afghanistan following the United States' collective "eh" in 2021.