The rights of women in Afghanistan suffered another blow on Friday, as Taliban officials refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas because they were traveling without a male “guardian.”
According to CBC Canada News, some of the women were bound for Canada. On Saturday, two Afghan airline officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the Taliban, said dozens of women who arrived at Kabul’s international airport Friday to board domestic and international flights were told they couldn’t do so without a male guardian.
A number of the women held dual nationalities and were returning to their homes overseas. Women were denied boarding on flights to Islamabad, Dubai, and Turkey on Kam Air and the state-owned Ariana Airline.
By Saturday, reports USNews, some women were given permission to board an Ariana Airlines flight to western Herat province, however, by the time permission was granted, the flight had already left.
The airport’s president and police chief, both from the Taliban movement and both Islamic clerics, were meeting Saturday with airline officials. “They are trying to solve it,” one of the officials said.
It was still unclear whether the Taliban would exempt air travel from an order issued months ago requiring women traveling more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) to be accompanied by a male relative.
This latest assault on women’s rights comes just days after the all-male religiously driven government broke its promise to allow girls to return to school after the sixth grade.
The international community has expressed outrage over the Taliban’s refusal to open up education to all Afghan children, lending credence to fears that the Taliban, once it regained power in Afghanistan would revert to its old ways.
On Saturday, dozens of girls demonstrated in the Afghan capital demanding the right to go to school. An Afghan charity called Pen Path, which runs dozens of “secret” schools with thousands of volunteers, is planning to stage countrywide protests to demand the Taliban reverse its order.
