Sima Samar Says Silence Over Girls’ Education Has Deepened Afghanistan’s Crisis

Former Afghanistan Human Rights Commission chief Sima Samar says men in Afghanistan have failed to meaningfully resist the continued denial of education to girls and women, warning that years of silence have deepened the country’s social and human rights crisis.

Speaking at an online event on Thursday, Samar said the fifth year of the ban on girls’ education has caused irreparable damage to Afghanistan and is worsening living conditions in both cities and rural areas. She said the long-term impact will be felt across society for years to come.

Samar also criticized the lack of public reaction, saying many people gather in large numbers to watch public punishments, but have not shown the same collective response to the denial of girls’ and women’s right to education. She added that even within families, many men have not done enough to defend that right.

She warned that the world must not allow human rights abuses in Afghanistan to become normalized. Her remarks come as the Taliban continue to ban girls above the sixth grade from attending school and women from entering universities, while restrictions have also expanded into medical and professional education.

Human rights groups say the Taliban’s policies amount to gender apartheid, arguing that the restrictions are not only discriminatory but are systematically removing women and girls from public life, education and future employment.

Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally barred from secondary and higher education. UNESCO says millions of girls have now been denied schooling, while the number continues to grow with each academic year that begins without them.

Aid agencies and rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the education ban is not only harming girls individually, but also weakening Afghanistan’s economy, healthcare system and long-term development by cutting off future teachers, doctors, nurses and professionals.

Samar’s warning reflects a growing fear among Afghan rights advocates that silence and inaction are helping turn one of the country’s gravest human rights crises into a permanent reality. Without pressure from both inside and outside Afghanistan, the cost of that silence will continue to fall most heavily on Afghan girls.

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