U.S. condemn move to suspend medical education for women in Afghanistan

The U.S. government has condemned the Taliban for ordering the suspension of medical education for women and girls in Afghanistan.

The U.S. government has condemned the Taliban for ordering the suspension of medical education for women and girls in Afghanistan.

“This directive, the latest in a series of efforts that jeopardize the rights and lives of Afghan women and girls, is an unjustifiable attack on women’s access to education and health care,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday.

Since returning to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces, the Taliban have steadily rolled back women’s rights, including barring girls from attending classes beyond the sixth grade. In August, the Taliban published vice laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces in public in an effort to completely erase Afghan women and girls from public life.

Medical education, including nursing and midwifery, was one of the only forms of education still available to women in the country.

 “These directives, now coupled with excluding women from obtaining a medical education, further jeopardize the health, well-being, safety and lives of not just Afghan women and girls, but all Afghans,” Blinken said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-condemns-taliban-suspending-medical-education-women-rcna183912

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