The Taliban’s reign in Afghanistan has ushered in a brutal era of gender apartheid, systematically denying Afghan women their fundamental rights. Deprived of jobs, education, freedom of movement, and even access to basic healthcare, women are confined to their homes, shrouded in restrictive clothing, and silenced. This systematic oppression, however, doesn’t seem to deter a burgeoning tourism industry, which uses euphemisms to gloss over the horrific reality.
The Taliban’s control extends to the most mundane aspects of life, even dictating architectural design. A recent edict bans windows in new buildings overlooking areas where women might be visible, aiming to further restrict women’s already limited interaction with the outside world. This absurd decree highlights the regime’s obsession with controlling female visibility, even to the point of deeming a fully covered woman a potential sexual stimulus. The Taliban’s spokesman explicitly stated that witnessing women in everyday activities like working in kitchens or collecting water could lead to “obscene acts,” revealing the deeply ingrained misogyny driving these policies.
The international community’s response to this escalating oppression is woefully inadequate. The English cricket authorities, for example, continue to schedule matches against the Afghan cricket team despite the ongoing gender apartheid, a stark contrast to the response to apartheid South Africa. This inaction is partly due to the importance of cricket to Afghan men, providing a source of national pride and influence that international bodies are hesitant to jeopardize. Even the Afghan team’s coach, Jonathan Trott, seemingly remains uninvolved in the grim reality on the ground.
Despite the UN’s repeated condemnations and reports of a sharp increase in women’s suicide attempts, specialist travel companies actively promote Afghanistan as a tourist destination. These companies employ euphemisms, framing the Taliban’s actions as merely “fascinating cultural differences” or “authentic, challenging travel,” thereby masking the systematic human rights abuses. This normalization is facilitated by the erasure of women’s experiences from the narratives presented to potential tourists. Online reviews often focus on the perceived safety and cultural richness of the country, conveniently ignoring the suffering of the female population.
This situation mirrors the indifference shown to apartheid South Africa by some tour operators in the 1980s, highlighting a disturbing pattern of prioritizing profit over human rights. The stark contrast between the international condemnation of apartheid South Africa and the relative silence surrounding the plight of Afghan women underscores a glaring hypocrisy. While campaigners once successfully dissuaded tourism to South Africa with the slogan “Apartheid is no holiday,” Afghanistan under the Taliban now demonstrates that such a sentiment is easily disregarded when financial interests prevail. The UN’s special rapporteur has even concluded that the Taliban’s actions may constitute crimes against humanity, yet the tourism industry continues to thrive, unburdened by meaningful consequences. The fact that one company now advertises interactions with Taliban members as a tourist attraction demonstrates the normalization of this oppression and a complete disregard for the suffering of Afghan women.