American actor Meryl Streep has said a “squirrel has more rights” than a girl in Afghanistan, adding her voice to a call by Afghan women to end the Taliban government’s severe restrictions on their lives.
Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.
Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions, including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public, which the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid.”
“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban,” Streep said on Monday during a discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public,”…
Read More