Do you know what reproductive rights are, who they apply to, and what they involve?

Often, the reproductive rights narrative is minimized to:

● Women’s Rights 
● Abortion 
● STDs 

Not only is this limited narrative incorrect—and, in some cases, harmful— it also does not fully reflect the impact, success, and importance of reproductive health care for all people in fully claiming, and enjoying their human rights.

Imagine yourself pushed out from the place you have called home all your life—with only a bag containing everything you have managed to save, not knowing the next place you will lay your head, having to move to another state, country, or continent to begin to piece your life back together again. This is a reality for people all around the world, in circumstances much worse than we can ever imagine.

Today, three months after the United States Government overturned Roe V Wade (which simultaneously overturned 50 years of legal protection for the right to an abortion in America), the global conversation surrounding reproductive rights remains both important and divisive. 

Americans now join a staggering 1,070 million people worldwide who face national institutionalised barriers to their reproductive rights. 

Five months on since the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, on August 30th, 2021, women still continue to fear for their lives and basic human rights. 

This article will focus on an overview of the Taliban’s actions during their takeover in Afghanistan. I will also highlight some of the brave women who continue to challenge the Taliban’s restrictions of their basic human rights. 

In most humanitarian crises, the women and children always seem to suffer the most harm. 

“Peace is not just silencing the guns.”

 ~ Fawzia Koofi, former Republic Peak Negotiator and first woman Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Afghanistan
 

Throughout time in the Middle East, women have been considered second class citizens and have had to fight for their basic human rights.

On 30th August 2021, the US military departed from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year occupation, which led to the ongoing Taliban takeover. As the current events in Kabul continue to unfold, the reality of the impact of women’s human rights in Afghanistan becomes more of a threat as each day passes.