Afghan publisher News On Wednesday, she released an all-female panel in her studio to mark International Women’s Day.
A poll by Reporters Without Borders last year found that more than 75 percent of female journalists have lost their jobs since the Taliban took over in August 2021, with the withdrawal of foreign forces.
The position of women in Islam was discussed in the panel consisting of three women and a woman moderator who covered their faces with surgical masks on Wednesday evening.
During the panel, journalist Asma Khogyani said, “A woman has rights from an Islamic point of view… it is her right to be able to work, to get an education.”
Last year, the Taliban suspended most girls from high school, women from college, and stopped most Afghan female NGO workers.
Another panelist, former university professor Zakira Nabil, said women will continue to find ways to learn and work. “Whether you want it or not, there are women in this society … If they can’t get an education at school, they will learn at home,” she said at the panel.
The International Labor Organization said women’s employment has fallen by 25 percent since mid-2021 last year due to the severe economic crisis in the country as well as increasing restrictions. She added that more women are turning to self-employment, such as tailoring at home.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday urged the Taliban to roll back restrictions on the rights of girls and women, describing them as “disappointing”.
The Taliban said they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretations of Islamic law and Afghan culture, and that authorities set up a committee to examine perceived problems to work to reopen girls’ schools.