In a chilling revelation, destitute Afghan women arrested for begging under the Taliban’s draconian new laws have spoken out about the horrific abuses they endured while in detention. From brutal rapes and beatings to being forced into labor and witnessing the deaths of young children, these women paint a harrowing picture of life inside Afghanistan’s prisons under Taliban rule.
Widows Targeted for Seeking Aid
Many of the women targeted by Taliban officials under the recently passed anti-begging laws are widows who lost their husbands after the regime seized power in August 2021. With women now barred from most forms of paid work, these mothers were left with no choice but to beg on the streets to feed their children.
I went to the neighbourhood councillor and told him I was a widow, asking for help to feed my three kids. He said there was no help and told me to sit by the bakery [and] maybe someone would give me something.
– Zahra, a 32-year-old mother of three
Zahra, like many others, was unaware of the Taliban’s new laws until she was arrested while begging near a bakery. She claims she spent three days in a Taliban prison, where she was initially forced to cook, clean, and do laundry for the men working there. When she resisted having her biometric data recorded, Zahra says she was beaten unconscious and then raped.
Abuse, Torture, and Child Deaths
Other women tell similar stories of the horrors they faced in detention. Parwana, a mother who was abandoned by her husband, says she was held in Kabul’s Badam Bagh prison for 15 days with her young daughter. There, she alleges that she and two other women were raped, leaving her traumatized and depressed.
Former detainees also report witnessing the abuse and deaths of young children while in custody. One woman claims she saw two children beaten to death, but no one dared speak out for fear of retribution.
If we spoke up, they’d beat us and call us shameless. Watching those children die before my eyes is something I’ll never forget.
– Anonymous former detainee
No Help for the “Destitute”
Under the Taliban’s new anti-begging laws, those classified as “destitute” are supposed to receive financial assistance upon release. However, none of the women interviewed reported getting any help. Instead, they are left to rely on the kindness of neighbors or resort to collecting stale bread to survive, all while living in fear of being arrested again.
The Taliban are brutal and oppressive but where can I go to complain about them? We are alone.
– Parwana, a former detainee
A Crisis of Destitution and Oppression
The heartbreaking accounts of these women shine a light on the growing crisis of destitution and oppression in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. With women stripped of their rights and livelihoods, many are left with no choice but to beg, only to face unimaginable cruelty and abuse at the hands of their oppressors.
As the international community watches, the question remains: how long will the most vulnerable in Afghan society be left to suffer in silence? For the women risking everything to keep their children alive, the hope for justice and aid grows dimmer with each passing day.
