Taliban Eradicates Books by Women from Afghan Universities
The Taliban government has removed books written by women from the university teaching system in Afghanistan as part of a new ban which has also outlawed the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment.
Some 140 books by women - including titles like Safety in the Chemical Laboratory - were among 680 books found to be of concern due to anti-Sharia and Taliban policies.
The universities were further told they were no longer allowed to teach 18 subjects, with a Taliban official saying they were in conflict with the principles of Sharia and the system's policy.
The decree is the latest in a series of restrictions which the Taliban have brought in since returning to power four years ago.
Just this week, fibre-optic internet was banned in at least 10 provinces on the orders of the Taliban's supreme leader in a move officials said was to prevent immorality.
Women and girls have been particularly hard-hit: they are barred from accessing education over the sixth grade, with one of their last routes to further training cut off in late 2024, when midwifery courses were quietly shuttered.
Six of the 18 banned subjects specifically relate to women, including Gender and Development, The Role of Women in Communication, and Women's Sociology.
The Taliban government claims it respects women's rights according to their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.
'A void in education'
A member of the committee reviewing the books confirmed the ban on books written by women, stating that all books authored by women are not allowed to be taught.
Zakia Adeli, the former deputy minister of justice prior to the Taliban's return and one of the authors affected by the ban, expressed her disappointment but claimed to have expected this outcome.
She stated: Given the Taliban's misogynistic mindset and policies, it is only natural that when women themselves are not allowed to study, their views, ideas and writings are also suppressed.
Furthermore, the ban appears to have targeted books by Iranian authors as well, with officials mentioning the desire to prevent the infiltration of Iranian content into the Afghan curriculum.
The removal of these titles has created concern among educators, who worry about a substantial void in higher education resources, diminishing the quality of academic instruction across Afghanistan.
The Taliban's Ministry of Education has yet to comment on the widespread pushback against these measures, which many see as an attempt to further isolate Afghanistan from global academic standards.
