Ahead of International Women’s Day, I’m thinking about the millions of Afghan women and girls who continue to have their basic human rights denied.
Afghanistan is no longer in the headlines as it once was, but the fate of Afghan women and girls should haunt the conscience of humanity.
In the three and a half years since the Taliban returned to power, the rights of Afghan women and girls have been savagely curtailed.
Nowhere else on earth in this century have women and girls seen their freedoms more severely and suddenly erased.
While some Taliban leaders express personal ambivalence about these policies, the reality is that the war on women is the policy the Taliban has most consistently and effectively waged since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Even the simple freedoms of going to public parks or the gym have been banned. Women and girls are effectively banned from playing all sports.
When the Taliban swept to power, many fled, including twenty members of the Afghan women’s cricket team.
Some were under 18 when they left, forced to hide in hotels to stay safe before being allowed to cross the border into Pakistan and eventually seek asylum in Australia.
Firooza Amiri, 21, and Benafsha Hashimi, 22, are two of these women. All they want – all any of these women want – is to be able to play the sport they love on a global stage.
To do that, they will need to be recognised officially as Afghanistan’s refugee team by the International Cricket Council (ICC). So far, their calls have gone unanswered.
“We really don’t know why they are silent,” Firooza says.
When the women played their first high-profile match together since arriving in Australia at the end of January, they couldn’t represent Afghanistan despite the country’s flag punctuating the stands.
Meanwhile, the men’s team in Afghanistan retains full ICC membership even though the country does not have a women’s team, which is a requirement of the ICC.
“You see that we are in the same position as [the men’s team] but they are playing in Championship Trophy and we are not,” Firooza says.
Shabnam Eshan, 17, says: “We deserve the opportunity to compete on the world stage… I want to show the world that Afghan women can compete at the highest level.”
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Firooza and Benafsha had both just finished high school in the summer of 2021 when their worlds were turned upside-down.
Firooza had just received a contract to play in the newly established Afghanistan’s national women’s team. In a matter of days, everything changed, and Firooza was forced to leave and start anew in Australia.
She had to burn all her medals and certificates.
“We have faced so many challenges leaving Afghanistan and starting a new life in Australia,” Firooza told me.
Their message to the ICC is simple. “Stop ignoring us,” Firooza says.
“This is the time for you to support us, for you to support the team… this is the time you show your support as a governing body and help us play cricket.”
Benafsha adds: “We don’t want anything from them except our rights.”
Read more:
Afghan women demand ICC takes stand against Taliban
Afghan women dare to dream of life free from ‘gender apartheid’
Shortly after the Taliban’s return, I began keeping a daily tracker of how many days had passed since girls over the age of 12 had been banned from school.
As of 7 March, it has been 1,266 days. Promises have been made to girls and their families by the Taliban that eventually they will be permitted to resume their studies – perhaps after the curriculum has been changed or new uniforms established.
But after nearly four years, it appears the Taliban has no intention of letting girls go back to school.
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Despite these barriers, the team remains optimistic and says they would like to be a voice for the millions of Afghan women and girls who have been erased from the public eye and denied their rights in their country of birth.
“What we want is for you [the ICC] to just give us our rights, we deserve better,” says Benafsha.
Sky News reached out to the ICC for comment but received no reply.
