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Taliban authorities in Afghanistan are reported to have banned medical schools from admitting female students, removing the last remaining opportunity for women to pursue higher education.
The decree issued by the reclusive Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, took effect Tuesday, a day after it was communicated at a meeting in Kabul of heads from all medical institutions.
Taliban officials have not yet commented on the alleged ban or the meeting that took place Monday in the Afghan capital.
Human rights advocates and foreign diplomats have condemned the directive they say will deprive millions of women of essential healthcare services, including midwives, female nurses, and health workers, in the male-dominated Afghan society where the Taliban have prohibited male doctors from treating women.
“I am deeply concerned about new reports that the Taliban will deny medical education to women in Afghanistan,” Robert Dickson, the charge d’affaires of Britain’s diplomatic mission to Kabul, wrote on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
Since regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the radical Taliban have banned female university education, and girls are not allowed to attend schools beyond the sixth grade.
Afghan women also are prohibited from working in all sectors except for a few, including health care, immigration, and police.
