After the takeover of the Afghan government by the Taliban, many edges of an urgent conflict begin to emerge. Extremism and the violation of rights are protagonists. It is necessary to read the 29 prohibitions of the Taliban regime on women to enter the dimension of horror.

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) published only a rough list of these prohibitions. From not being able to leave their home without the presence of a man, not being able to access health and education, to being stoned and flogged if they do not comply with any of these prohibitions.

The news was terrible, it revealed the unjust condition that women live in and the total absence of rights. The first thing we often do, from our Western point of view, is to think that the problem is due to the Islamic culture itself. We assume that when Afghan women step on the land of other countries, they would rip off the Burka (the veil). As if getting rid of the clothes that cover them almost completely, were getting rid of the patriarchy. But what happens when the veil is a decision? Is it machismo or is it identity?

In addition to the international conflict of intervention in the territory and the history of Afghanistan as a dispute between the Soviet Union and the United States, the current situation calls for another type of feminism. We are for all, but not all have the same culture. In the message of repudiation of what Afghan women have to live under the Taliban regime, colonial thoughts are often hidden; eliminate beliefs under the symbol of "modernity". Many Afghan women are asking to stop being held hostage to an identity. They choose to believe in Islam, as they also reread the Koran with a gender perspective. Can both coexist?

In a conversation with Belén Torchiaro, political scientist, Muslim and feminist, she refers to the problem of Western feminism in the following way: “One of the ways to silence the Muslim revolution is to reproduce or eliminate Islamic culture. We cannot think of the non-Western world without thinking of all the religious phenomena that occur in that world. The center of power in Islamic societies is religion. Feminism attacks all centers of power. That does not mean denying them, but changing them. There is a quote from a Moroccan cleric who says: 'Islamic feminists are more dangerous to me than agnostic or atheist feminists, because they simply deny religion. The truly dangerous ones for our system are the Islamic feminists.'”

To which he adds: “I am Muslim but men always told me about religion. Now I am going to read the Koran myself. There is a Western feminism that tells us to abandon part of your identity to be a feminist. Either you leave your culture or you leave submission. A clear example is the idea that when Afghan women arrive in the United States, the first thing they are going to do is take off the Burka (veil) to put on a bikini. As if that were to reach our freedom.

Afghanistan: the Taliban would have burned a woman alive for "bad cooking"

Afghan women find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They are victimized if they choose their roots, and they are oppressed in their territories. Machismo and the Islamic world are often represented in the media and social networks as inseparable. A culture destined for barbarism. That violence manifests itself in an extreme way does not mean that it is inherent to a specific place.

But what about the history of Catholicism? Witch hunting, the burning of women, was part of a Christian religion. Today there are no such violations of rights. The Bible changed, and it is still the Bible. Why couldn't the same thing happen with the Koran?

The consumerism of horror

The circulation of photos of Afghan women several times aims to raise awareness and ask for help; others promote that salvationist view of the West. It is not the same to extirpate the patriarchy of the Koran, than to fight Islam itself. Feminism and colonialism are confused in the same cause.

The story of Nadia Ghulam, who disguised herself as a man to survive ten years among the Taliban

Listening to the resistance of the Afghan women in these conflictive days is fundamental. The Amal Argentina Foundation is asking our country to sign for community sponsorship as a resettlement option for the Afghan population. It could be a small but crucial contribution to collaborate with the humanitarian crisis and position itself politically in the face of the fall of Kabul and the takeover by the Taliban.

Supporting Afghan women is not reducing them to unwilling victims. There is a feminist and religious struggle at the same time. Perhaps we are about to witness a new reading of the Koran.

Concerns about the situation of women under the Taliban

“There are still too many prejudices against Islam. Before the excuse was the lack of information, but now that there are sufficient means, the one who does not remove the prejudices is because he does not want to. I think it is a feeling of moral superiority that gives a false sense of well-being and, furthermore, it is the cradle of racism”, Wadia N Duhni, Muslim feminist.

* Inés Menéndez Hopenhayn. Communicator. Anthropology in progress. Feminist activist.