• Women’s Day observed annually on March 8th.
• The panel discussion was comprised of three women.
• All-female panel with a female audience was shown on the Afghan television channel.

When International Women’s Day 2023, observed annually on March 8th, witnessed the first and incredibly unusual occurrence of women stepping out in public without fear of punishment or discrimination, the hopeless dream of women’s empowerment and freedom in Afghanistan is no longer a pipe dream. Unexpectedly, an all-female panel with a female audience was shown on the Afghan television channel to celebrate Women’s Day.

Given how many female journalists either quit their jobs or began working off-air, the ruling Afghan government’s astounding move was even more shocking.

Even so, the panel discussion, which was comprised of three women and a female moderator, adhered to rigorous dress regulations, with the participants speaking about the status of women in Islam while wearing surgical masks over their faces.

“A woman has rights from an Islamic point of view … it is her right to be able to work, to be educated,” according to journalist Asma Khogyani, who spoke on the panel.

Women would still find ways to learn and work, said Zakira Nabil, a panellist and former university lecturer. “Whether you want it or not, women exist in this society … if it’s not possible to get an education at school, she will learn knowledge at home,” she told the panel.

Women have been prohibited from NGOs and barred from colleges and universities ever since the Taliban government assumed power in Afghanistan. Afghani women were compelled to turn to self-employment, such as doing home tailoring, as a result of grave economic hardships.

The Taliban regime maintains that they protect women’s rights in accordance with their view of Islamic law and Afghan tradition despite international criticism and public outcry.

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