School-Deprived Girls in Afghanistan: We Are Mentally Dead

Some young girls in Afghanistan told Zan TV that they had hoped that in the new academic year (1404) the doors of school and university would be opened for them, but the Taliban have deprived girls and women of their right to education solely on the basis of their gender. These schoolgirls say that they are dead, both mentally and spiritually, because by continuing the ban on education, the Taliban have deprived them of the right to mental and intellectual growth.

Asiyeh Ghafouri, the girl who deprived from school in the province of Farah, says that by closing the school doors for girls, the Taliban have not only deprived her of her rights but also destroyed her hopes and life. "When the school door was closed, I was in ninth grade. I really loved studying and achieving my dreams, but now—not only has my right to education been taken away, they've taken my life from me. I've become mentally unstable; I suffer from depression so severe that I see a psychologist every day, yet it’s all in vain. I've attempted suicide many times, but I haven't succeeded in ending my life. I feel that even living has taken away my right to die."

Kobra, a 14-year-old girl who completed her sixth grade three months ago at one of Herat’s schools, tearfully told Zan TV: "I wish I had failed school so that I could have stayed one more year with my friends and classmates; why don’t the Taliban allow us? When we go to school, are we committing prostitution?"

Suraya Nabizada, another girl deprived of education in Badghis province, says in a tearful voice: "I studied until the 11th grade, but it has been nearly four years since I was banned from going to school. I completely feel dead, both mentally and spiritually, because the Taliban do not allow us to study and grow. If the school doors had not been closed, I would now be studying one of my favorite fields at a university, but the Taliban took this right away from me."

Meanwhile, the start of the new academic year in Afghanistan without the presence of girls has sparked strong reactions from human rights activists and international organizations.

Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Rawadari Human Rights Organization, wrote on the X platform that the Taliban held the academic year's opening ceremony in Kabul without the presence of women and girls. She added that the ban on girls' education is heartbreaking and, in her words, a sign of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

The academic year 1404 begins while girls above the sixth grade have been deprived of schooling for nearly four years. The Taliban have repeatedly spoken about working on a plan to create a "safe educational environment" in accordance with their self-defined version of Islamic Sharia. However, these promises have yet to be fulfilled and remain unclear.