There was once a period of advantages for the situation of Afghan women in terms of  education, work, and politics. Now, women can barely leave their houses without a male  escort. 

Afghan women used to be great advocates of equal political rights and justice in the  government in the 1970s. Women in this period had achieved plenty in terms of education,  there were women actively working different and high positioned jobs. In terms of the role of  women in politics, women were greatly encouraged to work as members of the parliament  and women had the right to vote. 

As the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan by the end of the ’70s and spread more of  the communist regime, the religious people of Afghanistan were outraged, and rebellion arose  against the government of Afghanistan. The resistance that the Soviet Union faced was from  a group of people called the “Mujahideen”, or Islamic guerillas supported and funded by the  United States. After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan by the end of the 1980s,  the nation dove into a condition of vicious power battles. A wide range of groups, especially  the Mujahideen, were battling for power and a civil war began. As a result of this civil war  and the conflict before that with the Soviet Union, women and children became the main  victims. Due to the lack of security and safety, not only did the women of Afghanistan lose  their equality but also worse. The rights of women were completely ignored and women were  violently and extremely abused whether it was sexually, physically, or mentally. Women  were prohibited to be granted the rights that they had fought for in the previous decades, and  all the development of their rights began to collapse. 

The Taliban was another extreme radical group formed based on the same foundation  as the Mujahideen that took over Afghanistan in 1996. This is a period where women were  not only denied their right to education and work but also had to be hidden from public  spaces. Women were extremely controlled and seen as inferior individuals in society. A huge  number of cases of violence against women and traditions of harassing women in educational  and social places can be observed. This violence and harassment caused women to be still  afraid of freely living, being granted an education, or being treated as equals. Throughout  these decades of war, Afghanistan was hurt tremendously from an economic and social 

perspective, but most significantly, women lost and suffered the most. From 2001 to 2021;  Afghanistan was trying to get back on its feet and there were some improvements being  accomplished in terms of women’s rights and women’s education. However, it did not last  long. 

Today, the 15th of August marks the one year since the Taliban took control of the  Afghan government again. The world was shocked by the events that unfolded in the chaos of  the days following the Taliban victory and the most difficult and terrifying situation that  everyone was constantly worried about was, what is going to happen to the woman in  Afghanistan. – Women’s faces were painted over in the beauty salons and women were  getting ready to hide and burn their diplomas and school certificates so that the Taliban  would not execute them or punish them for having an education. Several months after that,  little girls still had hoped to go back to school but were returned crying after being told they  were not allowed anymore. Eventually, this is how women in Afghanistan went from  achieving plenty in terms of education, and actively working different and high positioned  jobs to hiding themselves for they too, have become afraid of their own existence. This is the  story of how women went from wearing miniskirts to wearing Burqas.